| Jim Simons | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Full name | James Bradley Simons |
| Born | May 15, 1950 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Died | December 8, 2005 (aged 55) Jacksonville, Florida |
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) |
| Weight | 175 lb (79 kg; 12.5 st) |
| Nationality | United States |
| Career | |
| Turned professional | 1972 |
| Former tour(s) | PGA Tour |
| Professional wins | 3 |
| Number of wins by tour | |
| PGA Tour | 3 |
| Best results in Major Championships |
|
| Masters Tournament | T15: 1981, 1982 |
| U.S. Open | T5: 1971 |
| The Open Championship | DNP |
| PGA Championship | T5: 1982 |
James Bradley 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 suburban Butler, Pennsylvania. He attended Knoch High School and later was a two-time All-American on the Wake Forest University golf team. He finished T-2 at the 1970 Canadian Amateur and finished runner-up at the 1971 British Amateur to Steve Melnyk.
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 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.[1]
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 T5 in the 1982 PGA Championship.[2] He was the first player to win a televised PGA Tour event using a metal driver.
Simons played a handful of events on the Champions Tour after turning 50.
Simons was inducted into the Wake Forest University Athletics Hall of Fame in 1996. He was found dead in the hot tub in his Jacksonville, Florida home at the age of 55. The Jacksonville/Duval County medical examiner's office ruled the cause of death as accidental "multiple drug toxicity".[3]
Contents |
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning Score | Margin of Victory | Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Apr 24, 1977 | First NBC New Orleans Open | -15 (70-69-67-67=273) | 3 strokes | Stan Lee |
| 2 | May 21, 1978 | Memorial Tournament | -4 (68-69-73-74=284) | 1 stroke | Bill Kratzert |
| 3 | Feb 7, 1982 | Bing Crosby National Pro-Am | -14 (71-66-71-66=274) | 2 strokes | Craig Stadler |
PGA Tour playoff record (0-3)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1979 | Buick-Goodwrench Open | John Fought | Lost to par on second extra hole |
| 2 | 1980 | Sammy Davis Jr.-Greater Hartford Open | Howard Twitty | Lost to birdie on sixth extra hole |
| 3 | 1984 | Bob Hope Desert Classic | John Mahaffey | Lost to par on second extra hole |