Michael Sims stormed through the back nine at the Nationwide Tour's Athens Regional Foundation Classic yesterday.

Sims fired a four-under par 68, hitting three birdies and an eagle in a scintilating back nine.

A solid opening left Sims on level par after the front nine, with a bogey at five cancelling out an earlier birdie at the second.

However the fireworks started at the turn when he grabbed birdies at 10 and 12, with a bogey at 11. And then came the eagle at the par five 14th.

From then on it was solid golf from Sims who rattled off three consecutive pars before closing with another birdie at the last.

It left the Bermudian well placed, in a nine-way tie for fifth, just two shots behind joint leaders Rich Barcelo and Patrick Sheehan.

Sims is on something of a roll at the moment, having had good finishes in the last two Nationwide Tour events.

He still had to qualify for this week's tournament, but such is his confidence at the moment, that he did that with ease.

And the way Sims is playing has convinced former St George's golf professional Kim Swan that he is on the verge of making a major breakthrough.

"He reminds me of Curtis Strange. Michael is a great ball striker, he was from very young. Strange is the same, and the game didn't come to him straight away either.

"But I know that Michael's got it (the game) to succeed. It's all about confidence, he's got momentum at the monent, and he's looking good.

"I've just got a feeling about this boy, his time is coming."

And Swan believes that Sims is ideally placed to challenge on a course he also played on two years ago.

"He's playing on a course he played two years ago, and that will give him a lot of confidence.

"I followed him around then, and he made the cut, so that is going to help him."