Simons qualified for the 1967 U.S. Open at Baltusrol, played just after his junior year in high school.[3] At age 17, he shot 165 (+25) and missed the 36-hole cut by seventeen strokes.[4]
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. A stroke out of the lead on the final hole, his tee shot found the rough and he double bogeyed. Simons carded a 76 to finish tied for fifth, three shots out of a playoff.[5]
Professional career
Simons won three PGA Tour events during his career and had over three dozen top-10 finishes; his final win came at Pebble Beach in early 1982.[6][7] His best finish in a major championship in the professional ranks was later that year, a tie for fifth in the PGA Championship.[8] He was the first player to win a televised PGA Tour event using a metal driver. Simons also notably worked as an investment executive while golfing professionally.[9]
Simons played a handful of events on the Champions Tour after turning 50 in 2000.
Death
Simons 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".[2][10]
Awards and honors
In 1996, Simons was inducted into the Wake Forest University Athletics Hall of Fame.
