Bermuda’s two top golfers both endured dispiriting weeks on their respective North American tours as Michael Sims and Eric West continued to discover the hard way that the world of professional golf can be a brutally unforgiving one at times.

Making his debut on the Canadian PGA Tour at the San Jose International Open, the 23-year-old West was struggling at plus-seven after 16 holes when darkness forced tournament organisers to call off play for the day.

However, a niggling back injury which had become worse as the round wore on was causing the young pro a lot of pain and he ultimately decided to withdraw rather than risk further injury.

And at the Nationwide Tour’s $600,000 South Georgia Open, Michael Sims missed the fifth cut of his rookie season after yesterday shooting another disappointing three-over round of 75 — leaving him on eight-over par for the tournament and seven shots off the cut.

Speaking from California yesterday, West said he had tried his best to get through the day, but by the back nine was finding it almost impossible to complete a full swing.

“I hurt my back last week in Florida but after a few days rest and ice, it felt alright again and I didn’t think there would be any problems,” he said.

“But as soon as the round started I started feeling it and although I tried hard to get through it, by the 16th when play was called off for the day it was just unbearable — I could hardly swing the club at all.

“The whole round was tough actually. It was like 40 degrees out there and blowing 30 to 40 miles an hour. I was hitting knock-down shots all day and the course as well was like a goat track. If you look at a lot of the first round scores, hardly anybody was under par — which I think puts things into perspective.

“I’ve been to see an orthopaedic doctor who just advised me to rest and see how it recovers. With all the changes I’ve made to my swing recently I really want to be practising, but back injuries are the sorts of injuries that can get very bad if you don’t let them heal properly.

“So from here it’s just a matter of resting up and trying to get fit for the next event.”

West doesn’t have far to travel for the next tournament — the Northern California Classic in Stockton, California.

Meanwhile, having posted a bogey-strewn round of 77 on the first day at the 7,781-yard Kinderlou Forest Golf Club, Sims started yesterday’s second round in need of a hot streak of birdies or better.

A bogey on the par-four first was therefore not what the doctor ordered, though birdies on the par-three fifth and eighth got the 28-year-old back on track.

A birdie on the 11th took him to two-under for the round and three-over for the tournament — a mere two strokes off the projected cut of plus-one — before a total of three bogeys and one double bogey during the last seven holes sent him crashing out of the tournament.