Michael Sims picked up $5,888 for his fourth place finish at the TELUS Edmonton Open on Sunday, the second biggest win of his career and enough to catapult him to 47th in the Canadian Tour Order of Merit.

Sims fired a remarkable final day seven-under-par 65 to leap up the leaderboard from 15th overnight to record his first four-day finish on the Tour and earn his first winnings.

Having failed to make the cut in the opening six events of the year, frustration was creeping in for the 27-year-old until everything fell into place at the Glendale Golf and Country Club.

?It feels great,? said Sims after the victory, which earned him his largest cheque abroad and the second largest of his career behind his record-breaking $7,500 Bermuda Open win last October.

?What always amazes me is the fine line between good golf and bad golf. Although I hadn?t made the cut, things weren?t that far away for me.

?But these last few days everything just came together. I hit the ball well and I putted well. I didn?t make anything over probably 15 feet, but I was just getting it close and giving myself a lot of chances.

?I hadn?t really worked on anything specific between the last tournament and this one. I guess I had spent a bit of time on my routine when I am standing over the ball but no serious changes or anything.

?But for some reason things just came together. Like I said, it is a very fine line and I certainly crossed it in this tournament ? all that hard work, all those shots, all those putts, all that time, maybe it is just beginning to pay off for me now.

?It really does feel great, it?s nice to be playing good golf and those were really fun rounds for me ? hopefully there will be more where they came from.?

Although not a career-changing finish by any means, his performance over the past four days has certainly put a slightly different perspective on the remainder of his golf season.

Picking up a cheque for the best part of $6,000 has placed him in the top 50 on the Order of Merit which, even without another finish of note, should be enough to leave him in the top 90 and therefore back on the Tour again next year.

This removes any uncertainty for the rest of the year ? Sims had admitted that it ?was at the back of my mind? ? but could still offer further benefits to the player.

If he can get into the top 26 places on the Order of Merit by the time the PGA Bell Canadian Open comes around, he still has four events left to do so and is only $4,000 away, he could earn an exemption into the final qualifying round ? putting him the closest he has yet come to the PGA Tour after failing at successive qualifying schools.

Top six finishes on the Canadian Tour also make players eligible for official World Golf Ranking points and, although they mean little in terms of tournament entries, Sims will be delighted to know that he is now ranked 1009 in the world ? two positions ahead of Greg Norman.