In that world Sim is a perennial major contender, has a handful of victories on the PGA TOUR and is a feted superstar whenever he returns to play on Australian shores.

That is how the Michael Sim story was supposed to go.

But at 36 years of age and with opportunities to play his way onto world tours dwindling in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sim has turned his attention instead to making other golfers better.

Possessing a swing that was admired not only for its fluidity but the results it yielded, Sim’s body began to fail him at an early age.

A stress fracture in his back that was diagnosed at just 21 restricted Sim to only middling results across two seasons on the PGA TOUR, ultimately losing his card at the end of 2008.

In 2009 he returned in emphatic fashion. He won three times on the US secondary circuit, finished top-20 playing alongside Tiger Woods at the US Open and rose to 44 in the Official World Golf Rankings by year’s end. In his second start of 2010 Sim was tied for second at the Farmers Insurance Open behind Ben Crane to rank as the 34th best golfer on the planet.

He had been invited to make his Masters debut that April but a shoulder injury forced him to withdraw a week out from the tournament and that parallel universe soon vanished into thin air.

Currently the 507th ranked golfer in the world, Sim has won the 2017 Queensland Open, 2019 WA Open and 2020 Queensland PGA Championship in recent years but the elite level of world golf to which he appeared destined to reside has remained out of reach.

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A proud father and husband based on the Gold Coast, Sim still has eyes on playing in Asia or Japan but given the uncertainty that comes with life as a touring professional is within weeks of completing his PGA Bridging course and has begun to establish himself as a coach.

Splitting his time between Lakelands Golf Club and an indoor facility where he can put his Trackman certification to good use, Sim says his method to developing players is a mix of old and new thinking.

“I just teach what I know. I don’t try to teach what I don’t know,” Sim revealed.

“Obviously playing at a high level and all around the world I feel like I’ve got a lot of knowledge that I can share.

“Most of my lessons that I have with people I start with the basic fundamentals. Get them on plane, make sure they’ve got a good grip and that their alignment is good.

“It’s amazing how many people aim not where they’re supposed to and then the ball position gets adjusted because of that.

“That’s certainly a good start to at least hit a good golf shot.”

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Level 1 and 2 Trackman Certified, Sim has embraced the technological advances available to coaches but admits that his passion is in sharpening up the short game.

“It’s more of a technology-based lesson with Trackman but you can also go in there and play some courses, test your wedges on Combine tests, gather club data, ball data,” Sim explained.

“It’s a different lesson to being outdoors and doing short game and seeing the actual ball flight rather than hitting against a screen.

“I started with David Milne at a young age and we did a lot of chipping and putting and pitching and that’s certainly one of the strengths of my game.

“I certainly enjoy teaching that area as well. There are always amateurs out there who you can help save shots around the green, whether that’s from a three-putt or don’t get the ball up-and-down or sometimes don’t even chip the ball onto the green.

“I played with a guy in a pro-am recently who had a really long backswing with his putting stroke and then completely stopped on it. He’d hit it short, hit the next one long and it was like that the whole day.

“I gave him a little tip to shorten his backswing and then accelerate through and he holed two putts in the last four holes from 20 feet.

“I’ve always enjoyed going to the chipping green for three or four hours and hitting different types of shots rather than hitting balls on the range in the same spot. I’ve always liked moving around, hitting bunker shots, lob shots, chip-and-runs; it’s so much more enjoyable.

“It’s nice to have the two different styles of teaching available for me.”

Sim has by no means closed the door on returning to life on tour – the Japan Golf Tour is his favoured path back – yet he remains realistic about the chances available to not only himself but the young Aussies hoping to transition into professional golf.

“It’s not just us professionals but the elite amateurs are in the same boat,” Sim said.

“I played with Nathan Barbieri at the NT PGA and he’s a really good player but he might not get to a Q School until 2022 perhaps.

“We can’t just sit around and wait for events with this COVID pandemic.

“Q Schools now with quarantines in place, it’s certainly a world of the unknown for the professional golfer.”

To book a lesson with Michael e-mail him at [email protected] or direct message @michaelsimgolf on Instagram.