An argument can be made for either player, with ease. Jack's won a record 18 major championships; Tiger's won 14, and counting.
Tim Simpson's recently had a change of heart on the question.
Then Simpson chuckles.
“But they haven't had brain surgery,” he says. “I have.”
Simpson, a part-time Hamilton resident, rose to prominence on the PGA Tour in 1989 and 1990. But after contracting Lyme disease in 1991 and the discovery of a hereditary neurological disorder that caused his left hand to shake uncontrollably, he fell off the radar.
By 1997, the man Nicklaus and Lee Trevino called the best ball-striker they'd ever seen, retired and was out of the game.
Simpson, 52, still suffers from Lyme disease, but a radical, nine-hour brain surgery basically cured the condition known as a benign essential tremor. Now he's making a valiant comeback on the Champions Tour, the pro circuit for golfers age 50 and older.
“God's given me a second chance,” Simpson says. “It's miraculous, really. It's a great opportunity and I'm trying to make the most of it.”
Simpson's tumble from the upper echelon of the PGA Tour was swift.
“My career was rocking along,” Simpson says. “I was a money-making machine out there.”
Two of his four career wins came in 1989. The next year, he won again and had his best finish in a major, a tie for fifth place at the U.S. Open at Medinah Country Club in Medinah, Ill. He was the second-round leader, becoming the first player to ever reach 9 under at the national championship.
Simpson finished sixth on the money list in 1989 and eighth in 1990, and had the most top-10 finishes - 22 - over that span.
After missing the cut at the 1991 Masters, Simpson went turkey hunting with a friend.
They were staying at a rustic cabin when he woke suddenly. It was 1:20 a.m.
“I looked down at my chest and I was covered in deer ticks,” he says. “Hundreds of them. They looked like grains of pepper.”
He says it was 18 months before doctors properly diagnosed him with Lyme disease, but the damage was done.
“By that time, I was a shell of my former self. I did some strength and conditioning tests and the results said I had lost 85 percent of my major muscle strength. I couldn't even walk 18 holes anymore.”
Soon after, his left hand started shaking.
“I kept trying to play,” Simpson says, “but my hand just wouldn't stop shaking. I was like a human guinea pig with all the medications I was on. But nothing worked.”
He gave up his PGA Tour status and retired in 1997.
“Hardest decision of my life,” Simpson says. “When I announced it, my good friend Dave Stockton said, ‘Tim, you aren't quitting. You're just moving on with your life. Who knows? Maybe they'll have some new surgery and you'll be able to make a comeback some day.' Little did he know how prophetic he'd be.”
Simpson got the itch to start competing again in the early 2000s and played in some Nationwide Tour events in 2004. But his hand still shook.
“I could still hit it like I did in my prime,” Simpson says. “But my short game was what really suffered.”
That's when Simpson got serious about surgery.
In March of 2005, he underwent a surgical procedure known as deep brain stimulation. He was the first person in the world to have the surgery for an essential tremor; before, only patients with severe Parkinson's disease had undergone the treatment.
“It lasted about nine hours,” Simpson says. “And I was awake for most of it. It's a very interactive surgery.”
Doctors imbedded a “Copenhagen can-sized” device in his chest and connected it to an electrode in his brain.
“I remember I was holding out a cane with my left hand,” Simpson says. “It was shaking. Then the doctors turned on the device. It was amazing. I felt electricity go down my leg and out my Achilles, and then I felt it go through my left arm. All of a sudden, my hand stopped shaking.”
And all hell broke loose.
“They got it in the right spot,” he says. “They hit a grand slam. Later they told me if they were one millimeter off, it wouldn't have worked.”
Two days later, Simpson was back on the golf course.
With his head still heavily bandaged, Simpson went to the practice area and hit a pitch shot from about 20 yards away and knocked it a couple feet from the hole.
The next shot went in.
“That's when I got emotional,” he says. “I cried my eyes out. This 14-year ordeal that had taken me from a contender to out of the game was over.”
So now, Simpson's got a bump on his chest and a bump on his head.
“That's OK, though,” he says. “They work pretty good.”
One of Simpson's most loyal fans lives in Hamilton.
Wayne Jones, who was a longtime pro at Hamilton Golf Club, remembers fondly the day some 20 years ago when he met “Mule.”
“We were visiting friends at the Bob Hope Desert Classic in Palm Springs,” says Jones. “And here comes this guy that you could tell was so strong. That's why I call him ‘Mule.' I mean, he had arms like Popeye.”
He's been a fan ever since.
Jones, who Simpson refers to as “Chief,” gave Simpson an open invitation to stay with him and play golf in Hamilton. Simpson took him up on the offer.
“The first time I set foot in Montana, I fell in love with it instantly,” Simpson says.
But it sure wasn't for the food.
“He wanted collard greens, grits and other Southern food like that,” Jones says of the Georgia native's first trip to Big Sky Country. “There was no way in hell he was going to get that stuff at my house.”
Despite the fact he couldn't get his normal cuisine, Simpson kept coming back.
He eventually bought a home in Hamilton during the mid-90s, but was forced to sell it later because of a divorce.
In 2006, he was on his way to visit Jones for the first time in years.
“When we were flying in it was like, ‘Oh boy,' ” Simpson says. “And to smell that unbelievable Montana air, it was like I was home again.”
He was there just a day before deciding to buy another home in the Bitterroot.
Although he doesn't get there as much as he'd like, he makes a few trips a year and enjoys every minute, whether it's to relax, bowhunt or play golf with his buddies at the Hamilton Golf Club.
“I can't get a fair bet from those guys,” Simpson jokes. “I've always got to give them a ton of strokes.”
“He's a class act,” Jones says of Simpson. “I'll take a nickel or two off of him when he's here. And he always pays up.”
Simpson's story has inspired many, including Jones.
In seeing how his friend dealt with such adversity, Jones, who has battled bladder and prostate cancer, learned a valuable lesson.
“He taught me that you just can't quit,” Jones says. “No matter what, you can't give up.”
And that's the message Simpson wants to send.
He didn't surrender, and is now poised to come full circle with a win on the Champions Tour. He currently sits 15th on this year's money list, with $576,024 in earnings through 14 tournaments, including a pair of runner-up finishes.
“Ask anyone, and they'll tell you that once I get that first win, look out,” Simpson says. “It's just a matter of knocking that first one out of the way. My confidence has been the slowest thing to come back to me. Before, it was like, ‘Uh-oh, when am I going to start shaking again?' I'm still getting used to the idea that I'm not going to shake anymore. It's coming, though.”
Whether he wins or not, Simpson is content with his place in life.
“I want to win, don't get me wrong. I know I can win. But if I don't, I'll know I gave it my best and didn't ever give up. And at the end of the day, that's the most important thing.”
John Heaney is a copy editor in the Missoulian sports department. He can be reached at 523-5317 or by e-mail at john.heaney@lee.net
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Ellen Tufts wrote on Nov 19, 2008 10:05 AM:
I am Ellen Tufts. I was talking with Nick Rucker and he mentioned you had had a tremor. I have a tremor on my left arm and leg. Nick said and I see that you have had deep brain stimulation which has helped tremendously. Would you please tell me who your doctor was and where he is located? I played golf for the first time in appox. 10 years because Nick has helped me so much. Thank you for any information you can share with me.
God bless you, Ellen "