Michael Sim has been playing this year's Nationwide Tour like a man among boys -- and not the kind of boys that can outdrive Tiger Woods, either. He won himself a battlefield promotion to the PGA Tour after winning three Nationwide events, and so it's no surprise that he's running away with the Nationwide Championship, too.

Okay, "running away" may be a little premature -- we're only one day in, after all -- but what else can you say about a guy who runs off eight straight birdies? Sim set a course record and now has a three-stroke lead on the field at the championships, held at Daniel Island in Charleston, South Carolina. And he very nearly tied the Tour's record of nine straight birdies, set by Omar Uresti at the 1994 Shreveport Open. Sim's putt on 12 stopped just inches short of the cup.

It's a fitting capper to a memorable 2009 for Sim, once the No. 1 amateur in the world and already the Nationwide Tour's all-time single-season money winner. Adios, Nationwide; it's PGA next year for Sim.

A second major storyline of this tournament is the fact that the top 25 money winners for the season get their PGA Tour cards for next year, which means that the guys on the bubble will be looking to make a charge. It's going to be a nervewracking weekend for a lot of folks, but with his Tour card in hand and a championship in sight, Sim looks like he could be free and clear from all the drama.

Sim shoots 64 in Nationwide championship [AP via Yahoo! Sports]