Michael Sim has continued his impressive recovery from stress fractures by posting a five-under-par 65 to be equal third at the Travelers Championship, three shots behind leader Hunter Mahan. It was another rain-interrupted day on the US PGA Tour, but American golfer Mahan showed he is the man to beat after producing a superb eight-under-par 62 to finish the day two strokes ahead of second-placed compatriot Chris Di Marco. Mahan started brilliantly, opening the front nine with four consecutive birdies, while also carding another four birdies on the trot between the 11th and 14th holes. Sim, meanwhile, also enjoyed a superb front nine, carding six birdies in the first nine holes to be on course for a superb score before dropping a shot on the back nine to finish with 65 for the day alongside Carl Pettersson, Bob Heinz, Kenny Perry and Brad Faxon. For Sim, it was another impressive performance though, as the Australian has only just returned to the PGA Tour after being absent for almost six months with stress fractures. It was also a good day for Steve Allan and Rod Pampling, who found themselves four shots off the pace after shooting rounds of 66, while Nick O&aposHern (67), Peter Lonard (68) and Paul Sheehan (68) are also well in contention. Matthew Goggin (69) and Stuart Appleby (69) managed to record sub-par rounds while Mark Hensby (70) and Steve Elkington (70) finished the day on even par. Forty players, including Australia&aposs Jarrod Lyle, did not complete their rounds due to poor weather but they will finish off their first rounds through early starts on the second day. First round scores from the Travelers Championship (par 70): -8: Hunter Mahan 62 -6: Chris Di Marco 64 -5: Carl Pettersson 65, Bob Heintz 65, Michael Sim (Australia 65, Kenny Perry 65, Brad Faxon 65 -4: Steve Allan (Australia) 66, Rod Pampling (Australia) 66, Michael Allen 66, Billy Andrade 66, Also: -3: Nick O&aposHern (Australia) 67 -2: Peter Lonard (Australia) 68, Paul Sheehan (Australia) 68 -1: Matthew Goggin (Australia) 69, Stuart Appleby (Australia) 69 E: Mark Hensby (Australia) 70, Steve Elkington (Australia) 70 +1: Stuart Deane (Australia) 71, Andrew Buckle (Australia) 71, Jarrod Lyle (Australia) (13)* +2: Gavin Coles (Australia) 72, Stephen Leaney (Australia) (15)* +4: Paul Gow (Australia) 74, Craig Perks (New Zealand) 74 * indicates that he did not complete his round due to poor weather