Tsuneyuki Nakajima

Tsuneyuki "Tommy" Nakajima (Japanese: 中嶋常幸; born 20 October 1954) is a Japanese professional golfer.

Tsuneyuki Nakajima
中嶋常幸
Personal information
NicknameTommy
Born (1954-10-20) 20 October 1954 (age 69)
Gunma Prefecture, Japan
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight88 kg (194 lb; 13.9 st)
Sporting nationality Japan
Career
Turned professional1975
Current tour(s)Japan Golf Tour
Professional wins58
Highest ranking4 (1986)
Number of wins by tour
Japan Golf Tour48 (3rd all-time)
Other10
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentT8: 1986
PGA Championship3rd: 1988
U.S. OpenT9: 1987
The Open ChampionshipT8: 1986
Achievements and awards
PGA of Japan Tour
money list winner
1982, 1983, 1985, 1986

Career

Nakajima was born in Gunma. He turned professional in 1975. He has won 48 events on the Japan Golf Tour, ranking third on the most Japan Golf Tour wins list. He also was the leading money winner four times in five years: 1982, 1983, 1985 and 1986. He is second on the career money list (through 2009).

Nakajima featured in the top 5 of the Official World Golf Rankings and was ranked in the top-10 for 85 weeks from their debut in 1986 to 1987.[1] He ranked as high as fifth on its predecessor McCormack's World Golf Rankings.

At the 1978 Masters Tournament, Nakajima made a 13 on the par-5 13th hole. After hitting his fourth shot into Rae's Creek, Nakajima elected to play the ball rather than take a drop. He popped the ball straight up and it landed on his foot, causing a two-stroke penalty. When he handed the club to his caddie, it slipped out of his hand and fell into the creek, incurring another two-stroke penalty. He chipped over the green, chipped back on and two-putted for the highest single-hole score in the history of the tournament.[2]

Also in 1978, Nakajima was in contention at The Open Championship on the third day at St Andrews until he putted into – and then took four attempts to escape from – the Road Hole bunker at the 17th for a quintuple bogey, which led the British tabloids to christen that bunker, for a while, "the Sands of Nakajima". Nakajima's best finish in a major was third at the 1988 PGA Championship.

He would also feature in an epic match at the 1982 Suntory World Match Play Championship at Wentworth when he lost to Sandy Lyle only after an extended playoff.

Amateur wins

this list may be incomplete

  • 1973 Japan Amateur Championship

Professional wins (58)

Japan Golf Tour wins (48)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
124 Oct 1976Golf Digest Tournament−9 (68-73-67-71=279)2 strokes Kikuo Arai
225 Sep 1977Japan PGA Championship−11 (73-65-67-72=277)2 strokes Teruo Sugihara, Yoshitaka Yamamoto
31 Jun 1980Mitsubishi Galant Tournament−12 (65-71-72-68=276)4 strokes Yoshihisa Iwashita, Graham Marsh
425 Apr 1982Dunlop International Open1−12 (71-66-68-71=276)5 strokes Saburo Fujiki
59 May 1982Fujisankei Classic−7 (67-73-66-71=277)Playoff Graham Marsh
61 Jul 1982Naganoken Open [ja]−7 (70-67=137)1 stroke Yoshiharu Takai
715 Aug 1982JPGA East-West Tournament−17 (65-62=127)6 strokes Norio Suzuki
85 Dec 1982Golf Nippon Series−17 (72-72-66-73=283)2 strokes Fujio Kobayashi
920 Mar 1983Shizuoka Open−5 (72-72-68-71=283)4 strokes Takashi Kurihara, Masaji Kusakabe
1015 May 1983Japan PGA Match-Play Championship38 holes Hideto Shigenobu
1122 May 1983Mitsubishi Galant Tournament (2)−10 (65-70-71-72=278)6 strokes Lu Hsi-chuen
1231 Jul 1983Japan PGA Championship (2)−9 (66-72-69-72=279)2 strokes Isao Aoki
1314 Aug 1983JPGA East-West Tournament (2)−5 (68-71=139)Playoff Saburo Fujiki
1411 Sep 1983Suntory Open−14 (66-73-67-68=274)2 strokes Saburo Fujiki
1518 Sep 1983ANA Sapporo Open−6 (71-70-72-69=282)5 strokes Isao Aoki
1613 Nov 1983Goldwin Cup Japan vs USA−3 (76-65=141)1 stroke Hale Irwin
175 Aug 1984Japan PGA Championship (3)−9 (68-69-67-71=275)2 strokes Seiichi Kanai, Shinsaku Maeda,
Tōru Nakamura
182 Sep 1984Kanto Open−8 (73-69-65-69=276)
1923 Jun 1985Yomiuri Sapporo Beer Open−17 (65-71-67-72=275)3 strokes Katsuji Hasegawa
207 Jul 1985Kanto Pro Championship−6 (68-70-69-67=274)3 strokes Koichi Suzuki
2122 Sep 1985ANA Open (2)−11 (68-71-69-69=277)2 strokes Masahiro Kuramoto
2213 Oct 1985Japan Open Golf Championship−3 (75-68-72-70=285)2 strokes Hiroshi Makino
2317 Nov 1985Taiheiyo Club Masters−8 (67-72-67-74=280)Playoff David Graham
2424 Nov 1985Dunlop Phoenix Tournament−13 (67-68-70-70=275)3 strokes Seve Ballesteros, Chen Tze-chung
2518 May 1986Japan PGA Match-Play Championship (2)6 and 5 Keiichi Kobayashi
261 Jun 1986Mitsubishi Galant Tournament (3)−8 (73-68-69-70=280)1 stroke Chen Tze-ming
2729 Jun 1986Mizuno Open−13 (69-65-68-37=239)*6 strokes Tsukasa Watanabe
2829 Jun 1986Kanto Pro Championship−19 (68-69-65-67=269)3 strokes Naomichi Ozaki
2912 Oct 1986Japan Open Golf Championship (2)−4 (70-73-72-69=284)1 stroke Isao Aoki, Masashi Ozaki
3019 Oct 1986Polaroid Cup Golf Digest Tournament (2)−9 (68-68-67-72=275)Playoff David Ishii
314 Oct 1987Tokai Classic−6 (71-72-73-66=282)1 stroke Masashi Ozaki
321 Jul 1990Kanto Pro Championship (2)−13 (67-67-68-69=271)3 strokes Kiyoshi Murota
3316 Sep 1990ANA Open (3)−11 (69-70-68-70=277)3 strokes Masashi Ozaki
347 Oct 1990Japan Open Golf Championship (3)−7 (68-71-73-69=281)2 strokes Masashi Ozaki
3523 Jun 1991Yomiuri Sapporo Beer Open (2)−16 (65-65-71-71=272)3 strokes Rick Gibson
3613 Oct 1991Japan Open Golf Championship (4)+2 (72-74-71-73=290)Playoff Noboru Sugai
3724 May 1992Pepsi Ube Kosan Open−13 (67-72-64-72=275)5 strokes Hirofumi Miyase
382 Aug 1992NST Niigata Open−13 (70-68-67-70=275)2 strokes Shigenori Mori
396 Sep 1992Japan PGA Match-Play Championship Promise Cup (3)3 and 1 Naomichi Ozaki
4019 Sep 1993ANA Open (4)−14 (67-67-67-73=274)4 strokes Naomichi Ozaki, Peter Senior,
Katsunari Takahashi
415 Dec 1993Golf Nippon Series Hitachi Cup (2)−18 (69-65-69-67=270)3 strokes Shigeki Maruyama
4220 Mar 1994Dydo Shizuoka Open−8 (71-71-69-69=280)Playoff Tōru Nakamura
4317 Apr 1994Tsuruya Open−9 (68-70-70-71=279)Playoff Tsutomu Higa
4422 May 1994Pepsi Ube Kosan Open (2)−16 (65-67-67-69=268)3 strokes Tsukasa Watanabe
457 May 1995Fujisankei Classic (2)−12 (66-70-70-66=272)2 strokes Masahiro Kuramoto
462 Jun 2002Diamond Cup Tournament (4)−19 (67-66-68-68=269)2 strokes Tomohiro Kondo, Hirofumi Miyase,
Christian Peña
4717 Nov 2002Mitsui Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters (2)−16 (69-66-67-70=272)1 stroke Hidemichi Tanaka
4812 Nov 2006Mitsui Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters (3)−13 (71-68-71-65=275)1 stroke Toru Taniguchi

*Note: The 1986 Mizuno Open was shortened to 63 holes due to rain.
1Co-sanctioned by the Asia Golf Circuit

Japan Golf Tour playoff record (7–6)

No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result
11978Japan PGA Championship Fujio KobayashiLost to birdie on first extra hole
21981Golf Digest Tournament Toyotake NakaoLost to par on fifth extra hole
31982Fujisankei Classic Graham MarshWon with par on first extra hole
41983JPGA East-West Tournament Saburo FujikiWon with birdie on second extra hole
51985Taiheiyo Club Masters David GrahamWon with birdie on first extra hole
61986Polaroid Cup Golf Digest Tournament David IshiiWon with par on fifth extra hole
71990Golf Nippon Series Hitachi Cup Naomichi OzakiLost to birdie on third extra hole
81991Japan Open Golf Championship Noboru SugaiWon with par on first extra hole
91992Japan PGA Championship Masahiro KuramotoLost to par on second extra hole
101994Dydo Shizuoka Open Tōru NakamuraWon with par on first extra hole
111994Tsuruya Open Tsutomu HigaWon with par on second extra hole
122002JCB Classic Sendai Toru SuzukiLost to par on second extra hole
132004JCB Classic Sendai Takashi Kamiyama, Tomohiro KondoKamiyama won with birdie on first extra hole

Other wins (5)

Japan Senior PGA Tour wins (5)

Results in major championships

Tournament19781979
Masters TournamentCUT
U.S. Open
The Open ChampionshipT17CUT
PGA Championship
Tournament1980198119821983198419851986198719881989
Masters TournamentT16T33T47T8CUTT33CUT
U.S. OpenT26CUTT53T9T32
The Open ChampionshipT36T8T59
PGA ChampionshipCUTT10CUTT47CUT3
Tournament1990199119921993199419951996199719981999
Masters TournamentT10CUTCUT
U.S. Open
The Open ChampionshipCUTT55T49
PGA ChampionshipCUTT21CUTT61CUTT52
Tournament200020012002
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open
The Open ChampionshipCUT
PGA Championship
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Summary

TournamentWins2nd3rdTop-5Top-10Top-25EventsCuts made
Masters Tournament000023116
U.S. Open00001154
The Open Championship00001296
PGA Championship001123126
Totals0011693722
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 4 (1986 Masters – 1986 PGA)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (six times)

Results in The Players Championship

Tournament1983198419851986198719881989
The Players ChampionshipT16T54CUTT64T15T27CUT

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Team appearances

See also

References