Michael Sims left himself with all the hard work to do today in order to make the Dayton Open's half-way cut.

Playing in his fourth Buy.Com tournament, the Bermudian pro rookie golfer endured another up-and-down day on the greens yesterday as he dropped from two-under-par - with six holes remaining - to one-over-par 73 at the Golf Club at Yankee Trace in Ohio, USA.

This put Sims in an 18-way tie for 87th place after round one on the par-72 course; seven shots off the tournament-leading score of six-under-par 66 shared by five players.

Once again, there were some early birdies for the 23-year-old who negotiated the back nine, on which he started, relatively well to find himself at two-under after just three holes.

He dropped a shot on the 15th hole but managed to carry his one-under score onto the front nine.

Another birdie at the first hole placed him back at two-under but bogeys at the fourth and fifth holes and then a double bogey at the sixth left him at two-over-par with just three holes to go.

On the ninth and final hole, Sims registered another birdie to move to one-over-par.

"I started off well. I was cruising for a while and then I had a hiccup for about three holes and it was just one of those things - you're doing fine and before you know it things change. I couldn't even explain it.

"I hit one bad shot. When I made that double (bogey) on the sixth hole I hit one out of bounds.

"It was windy out there today (yesterday) so it was a bit tough. The greens were really firm," said Sims, assessing his round.

Had he been able to hold on to his two-under score he would have felt much more comfortable going to bed last night, tied for 31st position and clearly well inside the cut.

However, he is not out of contention but, given the fact that 86 golfers shot even or better yesterday, he must shoot significantly better today if his name is to remain on the leaderboard over the weekend.

He is quite optimistic he can achieve this.

"I think so. I feel good about tomorrow (today). It's supposed to be less windy so if I just play well like I am capable of playing I should be all right," he replied when asked if he can pull things together.

He is looking to produce a second-round effort of about four-under-par to reach the second half of a Buy.Com event for the second time.

"I figure the cut is going to be two or three-under.

"I want to stay closer to three-under just because there's supposed to be less wind out there.

"I've just got to go out there and play well. That's all there is to it," said Sims, who tees off on the front nine at 9.45 a.m. (Bermuda time).