His Canadian Tour career may well have got off to a rocky start, but Bermuda's premier golfer Michael Sims is in no doubt that he is capable of shining brightly at that level.

The Bermuda Open champion was back at home last week taking a break from the rigours of professional golf and to reflect on successive missed cuts in the opening two events of the Canadian Tour's season.

At the Barton Creek Classic two weeks ago, Sims was three-over par after two rounds ? some 13 shots off the lead ? while the week after at the Barton Creek Challenge his five-over par, two-round score was one shot above the final cut.

He will be returning to the US tomorrow to prepare for the $100,000 Northern California Classic in Stockton.

While his swing felt pleasingly in sync on the practice ground, Sims was disappointed with the way he struck the ball in both tournaments ? though he insisted yesterday that he has already made the necessary adjustments with the help of his Rhode Island-based coach Steve Napoli.

A glance at his scorecards for all four rounds reveals that he struggled for consistency throughout ? with a clutch of birdies and even an eagle mixed in with a high number of bogeys or worse.

"I just wasn't hitting the ball well at all," he said.

"The first week there was no real wind but I was just very flat and didn't do anything outrageous. The second week it was really, really windy ? which when you're swing is off slightly doesn't help because it tends to throw you off balance. I wouldn't say there was anything major wrong ? I was just a bit off in every part of my game.

"It was odd ? every time I birdied a hole I'd bogey or double bogey not long after. I'm not too sure how many pars I had over the four rounds but I don't think there were too many.

"There's no doubt in my mind that I'm good enough to play on that tour. The standard is obviously very, very high and the margins can often be very small. When you're within one or two strokes of the cut like I was in the second week, that putt that lips out on you or that approach shot that gets a bad bounce can be the difference between success or failure.

"Despite what happened I'm enjoying the tour a lot. The courses I've played on so far have been in really great condition and the tournaments are very well run. Some of the Canadian tour events are broadcast on TV as well so it is an excellent environment to play in."

With only 11 events left on the Canadian Tour however, Sims will have to fill up his time in other ways.

He intends to play in several events on the Cleveland Tour which is based in New England while he will also try and qualify for tournaments on the Nationwide Tour.

His real ambition however is to earn his PGA Tour card and he will get another chance to do so at October's three-stage Qualifying School.