A day full of surprise

NEWPORT BEACH — Even for a guy with an intact skull, shooting eight-under-par 63 in the first round of the Toshiba Classic would have been satisfying.

For Tim Simpson, who underwent brain surgery in 2005 to correct a tremor in his left hand, it was a gratifying affirmation.

Simpson, 51, took the lead late Friday with long putts on the fifth and sixth holes, climbing ahead of Mark Johnson (64), Bernhard Langer (65), Jay Haas (65), and Mike Goodes (65).

Simpson matched his career low. He hadn’t shot a 63 since the opening round of the 1995 Nike Tri-Cities Open. It was also his best score in his two years on the Champions Tour.

That was before doctors started poking around in his head — while he was awake — for nine hours as they placed an electrode in his brain. The electrode is attached to another device, called a neurostimulator, located in his chest.

It was before the spinal fusion surgery on his neck, and before his sciatica started flaring up, too.

For two weeks leading up the tournament at Newport Beach Country Club, Simpson worked with a chiropractor almost daily, trying to tame the beast in his right hip.

After he finished Friday, Simpson, 51, lifted his cap to reveal the bubble on his right frontal lobe where a plastic cap replaces his missing bit of skull. Last weekend marked the third anniversary of the operation he had to correct a neurological problem brought on by Lyme disease: benign essential tumors which caused tremors similar to those associated with Parkinson’s disease.

“I’m a walking miracle,” Simpson said, his Atlanta-bred drawl pouring into the room. “It’s gratifying because I know it’s still in there. Whether I continue to play great this week or whether it’s next week, or you know, sometime later, I know it’s still in there.

“But you have to keep getting there to get that confidence back ... I was out of the game a long time and the hardest thing I struggled with getting back was getting my confidence back, just feeling like you’re in total command.”

It took him some time to redefine what normal meant. Now Simpson’s used to hitting the “super pacemaker” when he swings. There’s a wire in his neck that leads up to the bump in his head, but he found a way to make the best of it.

“It’s a great excuse, because when I screw up, my wife says, ‘I told you twice to do such and such,’ ” Simpson said, grinning. “I say, ‘What do you expect? I got a hole in my head!’ ”

Simpson, who had 24 putts, found success on the grass that usually stymies him, the club’s poa annua greens. After missing a three-footer for birdie at hole No. 3, Simpson came back at No. 4 and sunk a 30-foot breaking putt, then a 10-foot break-in putt followed by two 25-footers. In all, he had eight birdies on his bogey-free round.

On a course that’s not particularly long — only 6,598 yards — performances on the greens can make or break a score.

“I think the greens are the great equalizer,” said Haas, the defending champion who won here with a record-setting 19-under-par 194. “They’re very tricky to putt and tricky to get the ball underneath the hole. You hit a good shot and have a six-footer downhill you can’t hardly stop and you need to be defensive on.”

Haas and Langer played with Scott Hoch, the Champions Tour money leader, and there wasn’t a single bogey from the group until the 17th hole. Haas, who had seven birdies, missed the green on the par-three hole, then hit a chip shot about 20 feet short and two-putted. Langer had six birdies. Hoch finished tied for 10th in a crowd of nine with 67.

Like Simpson, 2005 Toshiba Classic winner Mark Johnson regained some lost confidence on the course. The Beer Man was alone in second with 64 after entering the tour with a sponsor’s exemption. It was his best round since shooting 64 at the 2005 Blue Angels Classic in Florida. Toshiba is especially meaningful for Johnson, as it’s the only tour event he’s won, and after a soul-shriveling slump, he wasn’t sure he’d be back. At one point, he went 25 events without shooting under par.

“It’s been a long, probably year and a half,” Johnson said. “I put a lot of pressure on myself and I expect a lot of high things. I just beat myself up a lot last year and the results showed it.”

After a nine-year hiatus from playing, Simpson joined the Champions Tour last year. But he never led a round until Friday. The last time everyone else was in Simpson’s rearview mirror during a PGA-sanctioned event was at the 1995 Nike Tri-Cities open.

He’s hoping some good karma will rub off from his caddie, Rich Motacki, who caddied for Tom Purtzer when he won the Toshiba Classic in 2004 after shooting an opening round of 60.

“I’ve got some fire in me,” Simpson said. “But you know, I think now I take some time to smell the roses a little bit.”

SORAYA NADIA McDONALD may be reached at (714) 966-4613 or at soraya.mcdonald@latimes.com.