Michael Sims' rich vein of form continued yesterday as he fired a blistering first round score of four-under-par 68 to finish the day tied for fifth at the Nationwide Tour's South Georgia Classic.

The Bermudian golf pro carded a flawless round which included a birdie at the par-five second hole and then a string of three birdies at the par-four 13th, par-five 14th and par-three 15th holes.

Measuring a daunting 7,781 yards, the par-72 Kinderlou Golf Club course at Valdosta clearly suited the big-hitting Sims who was among those who teed off early in the day.

The course is the longest on the Nationwide Tour.

Two shots ahead of Sims and holding down the early lead is Swede Blixt who returned a six-under par 66. Three players are tied for second after carding 67.

A week ago Sims tied for 15th at the $550,000 Athens Regional Foundation Classic also in Georgia, where he picked up a cheque for $8,800.

That left him 38th on this year's money-list with his near-namesake Australian Michael Sim currently the leader on that list with $241,417 after playing in six Tour events.

Sims, who had to qualify for two of the three Tour tournaments in which he's played, is now assured a place in the field for the rest of the year

And his goal now will be to finish among the top 25 money-earners which would earn him a spot on the prestigious and extremely lucrative US PGA Tour.

Earlier this week he told The Royal Gazette that working with coach Mike Taylor in Sea Island in Georgia had contributed to his success this year, although he did win three times on mini-tour events in 2008.

"I give a lot of credit to Mike Taylor, my teacher. We've been working on a few things in Sea Island. My head's a lot clearer, I just go out and play golf.

"I've made a change in equipment and basically I've worked on the simple things."

Sims made $13,200 when he placed ninth at the Louisiana Open in his first Nationwide Tour event of 2009 and followed up that with a six-way tie for 32nd at the Stonebrae Classic at the TPC San Francisco Bay GC where he earned more $3,000.