PENN TWP — The Merion Golf Club and U.S. Open will always share a piece of history — thanks to Jim Simons.

This year's Open will be held Thursday through Sunday at Merion in Ardmore, a suburb of Philadelphia, where 42 years ago Simons nearly shocked the golfing world.

Then a 21-year-old amateur, the Knoch graduate led the 1971 U.S. Open by two strokes over Jack Nicklaus and three strokes over Lee Trevino entering the final round. Simons carded a 6-over-par 76 on that final day, finishing three strokes behind.

He still led by a stroke with nine holes to play. He barely missed birdie putts on holes 15, 16 and 17 during that final round.

Simons died in 2005.

His legacy remains — especially locally.

“You'll never see an amateur do something like that again,” longtime Butler Country Club member Bucky Parisi said. “These days, anyone that good would have turned pro long before then.”

The Golf Channel is airing a special this week on Simons' near-miracle U.S. Open run. A segment appears on the network's Jimmy Roberts Show, which airs periodically during the week.

Golf Channel representatives visited the Jim Simons Memorial Shelter on the BCC grounds recently to film memorabilia there. Simons' father, Ralph, and sister, Sally, were interviewed in Florida for the show.

Country club member Bruce Cummings said the show's producers took everything outside of the shelter to film it in the sunlight.

“They were here from 10:30 a.m. until 5 that day,” Cummings said. “They invested a lot of time into this.

“Jim was always very humble, very polite. His amateur record was unbelievably impressive. He had a better record than Tiger Woods had as an amateur.”

Simons won the state title in high school and went on to become a collegiate champion at Wake Forest. He qualified for the U.S, Open twice earlier — in 1967 and 1968 — and made the cut as an 18-year-old.

Among the items in the Simons Memorial Shelter are putters he was awarded for each of his three PGA Tour wins — the 1977 New Orleans Open, 1978 Memorial and 1982 Bing Crosby Pro-Am — along with photographs, plaques, articles, magazine covers and a set of clubs he used on the pro tour.

The trophy Simons received for winning The Memorial in 1978 is also on display there.

Parisi played a number of rounds with Simons at Butler Country Club over the years. The latter rode his bicycle to the course — bag of clubs draped over his back — as a 9-year-old to play there during the summer.

“If I used one word to describe Jim Simons, it would be 'gentleman,'” Parisi said. “He was a very congenial guy. He'd play a round of golf with anybody.”

Butler resident Lisa Konesni dated Simons in high school and described him as “a sweet young man.” She played golf with him on numerous occasions.

“It's something we enjoyed doing together,” Konesni said. “Jim was an exceptional teacher, very patient. He taught me how to get out of the sand, something I do very well even while golfing today.

“Anytime I hit a shot out of a trap, I think of him. They are special memories.”

Penn Township resident Jim Hutchinson once defeated Simons on his way to winning the BCC championship one year.

“Jimmy was just a great kid,” Hutchinson said. “What he did at Merion was unheard of. He worked hard at his game.”

Hutchinson's family lived by the golf course. He and his wife had eight children and Simon's first set of golf clubs were handed down to each.

“That's a great memory,” daughter Joan Ferraro said of using Simons' clubs. “That's how we all learned the game. We gave the clubs back to his father when our family was finished with them.”

Accuracy proved to be the staple of Simons' success.

“He wasn't a lengthy driver, but his approach shots were impeccable,” Cummings said. “Jim Simons could hit 50 approach shots and drop 48 of them into a bushel basket.

“An 80-foot shot compared to an 83-foot shot were totally different to him.”

Parisi agreed.

“Jim used to bring a hula hoop to the course, hit about 100 balls from 110 yards away and drop each one of them inside that hoop,” Parisi said. “That man could put a golf ball wherever he wanted to.”

Simons had owned the Butler Country Club record — shooting a 63 on June 20, 1975 — a mark that held until current club pro Rob McClellan shot a 62 in 2007.

Jack Nicklaus called Simons “one of the best amateurs to ever play the game.”

The 1971 U.S. Open showed that.