Simpsons Are Big Achievers : U.S. Open: Tim, 1987 winner Scott and Jeff Sluman get best of Medinah with 66s. Donald, Jones are one back.

What is the best way for a golfer to prepare for a tournament as prestigious as the U.S. Open?

Should he spend endless hours in practice, or just kick back and relax?

Tim Simpson had his own method. He went salmon fishing last week in Alaska, letting others grind it out.

This proved to be the right formula for him Thursday as he shot a course-record, six-under-par 66 to share the first-round lead with Jeff Sluman and Scott Simpson in the 90th U.S. Open on Medinah Country Club’s No. 3 course.

So the Simpsons, not to be confused with the TV cartoon characters, are in control along with Sluman. The leaders held a one-stroke edge over Mike Donald and Steve Jones.

After an overnight rain had softened the slick Medinah greens, Tim Simpson, playing in the morning, had six birdies and missed chances for a few more when his ball lipped out of the cup.

Sluman, playing in the afternoon, made some clutch putts to save par on the early holes and then had six birdies to tie for the lead.

“What a difference a year makes,” said Sluman, who missed the cut in last year’s Open while playing in his hometown of Rochester, N.Y. “Without those key putts at (Nos.) 1, 2 and 3 for par, I could just as easily have been two or three over (par).”

Sluman, 32, who won the PGA Championship in 1988, said he is not quite as consistent now as he was then, but added that Thursday’s round was a confidence builder.

Scott Simpson, the former USC star who won the U.S. Open in 1987 and finished in the top 10 in the tournament the past two years, said he has been struggling this year.

“I have had some good finishes, but I’ve missed five cuts,” he said.

Asked why he plays so well on Open courses, Scott Simpson, who is not related to Tim, said: “I always like the courses they pick. I don’t know any I don’t like. They’re carved out of trees. They’re tough but playable, and good shots are rewarded. It just sets up for my game. You just have to keep hitting it straight.”

That’s his forte, and he had seven birdies and a bogey while playing late in the afternoon.

Tim Simpson, who was sixth on the money-earning list last year while winning two PGA Tour events, said: “I felt on Monday that even par would be right there, if it didn’t win.

“Obviously, we got a break with the softening of the greens, but there is a give and take.The greens are softer, but so are the fairways.”

The stocky, 5-foot-10, 185-pound pro from Atlanta joined the tour in 1977, but it has only been in the last few years that he has escalated his game to a higher level.

“I’ve been doing a lot of things right the last few years, and this year I’ve been in the top 10 one out of two tournaments I’ve played,” Tim Simpson said. “I just want to play my own game and be aggressive, which is my style, when I can, but be intelligent and patient when it calls for it.”

He said he has had a tendency to over-prepare for the major events and and has missed the cut the past two years in the Open.

“Yesterday, I made an honest commitment and said no (to extensive practicing),” he said. “I just hit balls for an hour and then rested and read.”

He said he has worked with sports psychologist Dr. Bob Rotella to change his attitude toward the game.

“I was way too tough on myself; I was always my own worst enemy and always had high expectations for myself,” Tim Simpson said. “When you work so hard to become one of the best in the world, there’s a certain nature in all of us that you want more. If you shoot a 65, you want to shoot a 63.”

He added that there is another phase in his life apart from golf that had a dramatic impact on him.

“When my little girl Katie was born 3 1/2 years ago, she wasn’t expected to live,” he said. “When I saw doctors working on my daughter, I said to myself, ‘Why is golf so important?’ Golf had consumed me.

“It made me realize that life is a lot more important than golf, and I don’t take it as seriously any more. I want to do my best and win championships, but I realize when I shoot a bad round, the sun is going to come up tomorrow.

“And now I have a little girl, who is perfectly happy and healthy, who lived and beat the odds. It just put things in perspective. My family is the most important thing to me.”

Donald, a 34-year-old pro who has yet to win on the tour, had his day in the sun during the Masters last April when he shot a 64 for the first-round lead. However, he quickly faded from contention with an 82 in the second round.

“I woke up this morning to read USA Today and see where Mr. (Jim) Murray had picked me to win,” Donald said. “I thought, is he doing this seriously or is he just being sarcastic. Either way, it’s a motivation for me because if he believes I have a chance, it gives me confidence.”

Donald had six birdies and one bogey in his five-under-par round. So he’s in contention, as he was at Augusta, Ga. Asked to compare his fast starts in the two majors, he said: “The Masters was something I had dreamed about since I was a little kid, and the first time I’m there I have a 64, which was unbelievable.

“I feel, though, that I’m playing a lot better now than I was at Augusta. I’ve worked on my game and I believe I can handle (pressure) better.”

John Huston and Mark Brooks were two strokes behind the leaders at 68. Two-time defending champion Curtis Strange struggled in with a one-over-par 73.

Strange had three three-putt greens in his round of 73.

“I just didn’t play very well,” he said. “When you miss as many putts as I did, it puts a lot of pressure on the rest of your game.

“It’s frustrating because Medinah was there to be taken advantage of today. Overall, the course played so much easier than the one we had been practicing on. When the course is softer, it makes second shots longer, but it’s like throwing darts to the green.”

Even though Strange is seven shots behind the leaders in his bid to become the first player since Willie Anderson, in 1903-05, to win three consecutive Opens, he doesn’t believe that he’s out of contention.

“I have a lot of ground to make up, but we have a long way to go,” he said. “I don’t think Medinah is through with us yet.

Golf Notes

Eddie Merrins, the pro at the Bel-Air Country Club, held the Medinah course record with a 66 at the Western Open in 1962, before changes were made in the course. Chi Chi Rodriguez had the best round, a 67 in the 1988 U.S. Senior Open, since the course was lengthened, until Tim Simpson, Scott Simpson and Jeff Sluman got their 66s Thursday. . . . Jay Don Blake made a hole in one on the par-three, 190-yard eighth hole. He used a six-iron and finished with a 72. . . . Jack Nicklaus, 50, bidding to become the first player to win on the Senior PGA Tour and the regular PGA Tour in the same year, came in with a one-under-par 71. “I would say I just played fair,” Nicklaus said. “I drove the ball decently, but my iron game wasn’t particularly good.” . . . There were 39 players under par Thursday, a record for any round in the Open.