Michael Sims finished as he had started, with a round of even par 71 at the $650,000 Nationwide Tour Cox Classic in Omaha, Nebraska yesterday.

It was good enough for a 59th place finish among the 66 players who made the cut from a starting field of 156, but after a brilliant round of 66 at the 7,145-yard Champion Runs course in the second round on Friday, followed up by a two-under 69 on Saturday, the young Bermudian would have been hoping for much better.

As it was, however, his roller-coaster performance was still enough to earn him another cheque ¿ the exact amount wasn't known at press time last night ¿ and will probably move him into the top 100 in the tour money standings, having entered the weekend in 103rd place.

Much of Friday's good work, when he posted seven birdies, was undone on the first hole of Saturday's third round when he suffered a triple bogey seven. But as he had done a day earlier, Sims refused to throw in the towel and rebounded with five birdies to finish with a highly respectable 69. But with the course playing as easy as any on the Nationwide Tour this year, Sims found himself dropping down the leaderboard with the majority of players also firing under par.

Yesterday Sims recorded another three birdies, offset by a a bogey and double bogey, for his even par round which again saw him slip further down the field.

The tournament was won by the in-form Roland Thatcher who finished with a six-under 65 for a 24-under-par total of 260, one of the lowest scores posted on tour this year.