Michael Sims labelled his 72-hole performance "indifferent" after tumbling down the leadboard at the Nationwide Tour's Northeast Pennsylvania Classic over the weekend – having held the outright lead following a scintillating six-under-par 64 on Thursday.

That round was followed by a three-over 73 on Friday, an even-par 70 on Saturday and a one-under 69 in the final round yesterday, leaving the Bermuda pro eventually in a tie for 46th.

In a tournament in which he collected three eagles – including a two at the par-four 14th on Saturday – and a bunch of birdies, the inconsistency that has plagued Sims all season again came to the fore on the tight and difficult 6,690-yard, par-70 Elmhurst Country Club course in the town of Moscow.

He finished at four-under 276, 11 shots behind Sweden's Mathias Gronberg and Denmark's Gary Christian who decided the $94,500 winner's prize in a play-off. Christian prevailed in one the Tour's longest ever play-offs, lasting nine holes - all of them played at the 18th hole.

"If I had to find a word for the week it would be 'indifferent'," said the 30-year-old. "I putted the ball good but I didn't hit it very good. My short game and chipping was pretty good, all things considered. My ball striking was not good and on this golf course you need to hit fairways and you need to hit greens. It wasn't much fun after the first day.

"Nothing in particular, it was just sloppy. I just need to go think about what I need to work on. I've been getting a little loose with my swing. Some of my bad habits are creeping back.

"I just had one of those weeks where my swing didn't feel good on Friday and I couldn't find it on the weekend."

Heading to this week's Nationwide Tour Mexico Open, Sims added: "Hopefully there will be some Bermuda greens and we can get back on track.

Tour statistics showed that Sims hit 35 of 56 fairways during the tournament (62.5 percent); 46 of 72 greens (63.9 percent) and needed a total of 118 putts. After surging to the top of the 156-strong field on Thursday, the Belmont Hills pro never looked like maintaining that form as his Friday round included four bogeys and just one birdie.

Matters improved on Saturday with an even-par effort which included the eagle and two birdies, offset by four bogeys.

And yesterday, in a final push to climb into the top ten, Sims carded two bogeys in his first five holes but then got his score to three-under for the day with another eagle and three birdies. But two bogeys in the final five holes left him reflecting on what might have been.

Sims started the week in 70th place on the moneylist, having won $58,368 so far this season. The top 25 at the end of the year will earn automatic qualification to the PGA Tour.