No stress for Sim as he rebounds nicely from stress fracture  Special to PGATOUR.com CROMWELL, Conn. -- Stress fractures in the back aren't pleasant for anyone, but especially not for a 22-year-old golfer.  Michael Sim tied the TPC River Highlands front-nine course with a 6-under 29 Thursday. (Stan Badz/PGA TOUR/WireImage)
Australian Michael Sim was diagnosed with just such an affliction seven months ago. He managed to get through the final two Nationwide Tour events and finished 19th on the money list to earn his PGA TOUR card for 2007. Doctors told Sim it would be three months before he could play on TOUR again. They fibbed. Despite rest and fish oil that resembled an anti-inflammatory vitamin, it took 5 1/2 months before Sim returned for the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Sim shot 6-under-par 282 there to tie for 18th and win $76,860. But his only other check this year was $10,000 for one of two cuts he made on the Nationwide Tour. He was 0-for-3 in his other three PGA TOUR starts this year and was 1 over after his first 10 holes Thursday, including a three-putt from 4 feet at No. 13, in the first Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands. Then Sim had a finish to remember. Pitching wedge to 12 feet, birdie at No. 2. Nine-iron to 14 feet, birdie at No. 3. Another 9-iron to 3 feet, birdie at No. 6. Pitching wedge to 30 feet, birdie at No. 7. Sand wedge chip-in from 45 feet, birdie at No. 8. Sand wedge to 12 inches, birdie at No. 9. It added up to a 6-under 29 that tied the front-nine course record and gave him a 65. Sim had a 29 in the New Zealand Amateur in 2004, but this was the PGA TOUR. "It was just a crazy front nine," Sim said. "I didn't do a whole lot, and then on the back, I holed two good putts on 2 and 3 and made a real lucky birdie at No. 6. It was off the tee right and then left rough and then hacked a 9-iron out, landed on the front, rolled 20 yards up to 3 feet and made that. It was unbelievable. It was just a weird 4. "I played equal on my front nine that I did on the back, I just got the momentum going. You know how it is, once you get on a roll, you just make birdies." Similar to Michael Sims, whose 4-under 68 Thursday put him among the first-round leaders in the Nationwide Tour event in Knoxville, Tenn. Late last year, while recuperating in Australia, Sim ordered some wedges from Titleist. So did Sims. Sim was about to return to the United States when a box arrived. "I thought, 'Perfect, I'll go practice this afternoon,' " Sim said. "I looked at the wedges, and it had 'Simsy' written on the back of the wedge. And it just wasn't what I ordered. The grip was wrong, the shaft was wrong, and the head was wrong. I thought, 'This can't be right.' So I emailed [Titleist club rep] Bob Vokey, and he said, 'That's for Michael Sims.' "When I came over here, Sims said, 'I've got to meet you. I'm Michael Sims.' And I was like, 'Yeah, I'm Michael Sim.' It was kind of a funny story. I shipped [the clubs] back to the U.S., but I should have shipped them to him because he was down there [for a Nationwide Tour event]. It was a big mess." Just like Sim's back, injured while he was hitting a drive in the third round of the Nationwide Tour event last July 29 in Wichita, Kan. Sim scraped out a 68, then shot 73 in the final round to finish in a tie for 29th. He managed an opening 65 the next week in Omaha, Neb., then withdrew because of the pain. Sim had a CAT scan that didn't show any particular problem, so he tried to play the next three weeks but withdrew and had two missed cuts before deciding to go home to Australia for treatment. He stayed Down Under for a month, then returned to the United States for the final four Nationwide Tour events, beating Ken Duke in a Monday playoff to win the Palmetto Pride Classic in Charleston, S.C. "The week after I won, I could barely move," Sim said. Sim tied for 16th and 46th in the last two tournaments to earn his way onto the PGA TOUR and then returned home and had another CAT scan that showed he had a stress fracture in his lumbar 5. When the fish oil and rest didn't work, Sim sat out until mid-April and is playing on a minor medical exemption. "I stopped taking the fish oil for a week when I got back and was a little bit sore when I came back," Sim said. "Ever since I got back on them, I haven't had a problem." No problem with his clubs, either. Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. |
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