Michael Sims could be facing the biggest two weeks of his golf career after picking up a cheque for $23,000 on Sunday night that catapulted him 13 places up the all-important Nationwide Tour moneylist.

It was the biggest payday of his professional career and by far the largest he's received in the 22 Tour events in which he's played this year.

But more importantly it has put him within reach of a place in the season-ending one-million dollar Tour Championship to be played at the Daniel Island Club in Charleston, South Carolina at the end of the month – a tournament which will feature only the top 60 on this season's moneylist, and regardless of how they fare in that event, all 60 will automatically become eligible to play on the same Tour next year.

Sims' performance at the Soboba Classic in San Jacinto, California over the weekend left him in a tie for 11th.

And when the overall money rankings were released yesterday, they showed the 30-year-old in 65th spot – just five places off the magical 60 mark. He had entered the California tournament in 78th place.

With the Soboba Classic also offering $1 million in prize-money, the biggest purse in any of the regular Tour events, Sims' storming finish couldn't have come at a better time.

Now, however, he has to do it all again, at the very least make the cut at the last two regular tournaments of the season before the Championship.

This week he'll be at Chattanooga Classic at the Black Creek Club in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where the purse in $500,000 with the winner receiving $90,000, and a week later he'll travel to Miami for the $625,000 Miccosukee Championship at the Miccosukee Golf and Country Club where the winner will pick up $112,500.

Currently sitting at 60th on the moneylist is B.J.Staten with $91,811 in earnings. Sims has $86,264, just over $5,000 behind.

His play over the weekend when he shot successive rounds of three-under 67 will have no doubt boosted his confidence as he rebounded from a first round of one-over 72 that included a triple bogey.

On both Saturday and Sunday he recorded eagles, one at the par-four second.

And PGA stats released yesterday showed that the Bermudian is now ranked second overall in the number of eagles recorded on the Tour this season – 18 in total.

With more than 300 players having made an appearance on the Tour this year, Sims is ranked 29th in driving with an average of 298.5 yards, and his putting has improved drastically as he is now ranked 27th.

Prior to his latest success, he had missed the cut in his three previous tournaments, which ultimately could prove costly.

A PGA spokesman confirmed yesterday that of the 60 players who head the season-ending moneylist, all will retain their Nationwide Tour card while those finishing between 26 and 40 will automatically qualify for the final stage of PGA Tour School when players vie for a place on the elite PGA Tour.

The top 25 on the Nationwide moneylist will be guaranteed a spot on the PGA Tour next year.

Should Sims miss out on a top 60 berth he would have to play in the second round of Q School in order to retain his card.