Jim Simons (golfer)

Jim Simons (May 15, 1950 – December 8, 2005) was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour in the 1970s and 1980s.

Simons was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and raised in Butler, Pennsylvania. He attended Knoch High School and later was a two-time All-American on the Wake Forest University golf team.

Simons is probably best remembered for nearly winning the 1971 U.S. Open as an amateur. At the age of 21, he shot a third-round 65 to take a two-shot lead after 54 holes at Merion Golf Club near Philadelphia. That set up the possibility of Mr. Simons, then a junior at Wake Forest, becoming the first amateur to win the event since Johnny Goodman in 1933. However, he double-bogeyed the final hole and finished the final round with a score of 76 to finish tied for fifth, three shots behind winner Lee Trevino.

Simons won three PGA Tour events during his career and had over three dozen top-10 finishes. His best finish in a major championship in the professional ranks was a T-5 in the 1982 PGA Championship. He was the first player to win a televised PGA Tour event using a metal driver.

Simons was inducted into the Wake Forest University Athletics Hall of Fame in 1996. He was found dead in his Jacksonville, Florida home at the age of 55.

Amateur wins

*1966 West Penn Junior Championship
*1969 West Penn Amateur, Pennsylvania Amateur
*1970 Pennsylvania Amateur

PGA Tour wins

*1977 First NBC New Orleans Open
*1978 Memorial Tournament
*1982 Bing Crosby National Pro-Am

External links

* [http://www.pgatour.com/players/intro/460017 Profile on PGA Tour's official site]
* [http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05349/622481.stm "Obituary" from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]