Tsuneyuki Nakajima
Tsuneyuki "Tommy" Nakajima is a Japanese professional golfer.
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.
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. 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.
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 (56)
Japan Golf Tour wins (48)
Japan Golf Tour playoff record
No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result |
1 | 1978 | Japan PGA Championship | Fujio Kobayashi | Lost to birdie on first extra hole |
2 | 1981 | Golf Digest Tournament | Toyotake Nakao | |
3 | 1982 | Fujisankei Classic | Graham Marsh | Won with par on first extra hole |
4 | 1983 | JPGA East-West Tournament | Saburo Fujiki | |
5 | 1985 | Taiheiyo Club Masters | David Graham | Won with birdie on first extra hole |
6 | 1986 | Golf Digest Tournament | David Ishii | Won with par on fifth extra hole |
7 | 1990 | Golf Nippon Series Hitachi Cup | Naomichi Ozaki | Lost to birdie on third extra hole |
8 | 1991 | Japan Open Golf Championship | Noboru Sugai | Won with par on first extra hole |
9 | 1992 | Japan PGA Championship | Masahiro Kuramoto | Lost to par on second extra hole |
10 | 1994 | Dydo Shizuoka Open | Tōru Nakamura | Won with par on first extra hole |
11 | 1994 | Tsuruya Open | Tsutomu Higa | Won with par on second extra hole |
12 | 2002 | JCB Classic Sendai | Toru Suzuki | Lost to par on second extra hole |
13 | 2004 | JCB Classic Sendai | Takashi Kamiyama, Tomohiro Kondo | Kamiyama won with birdie on first extra hole |
Other wins (3)
- 1976 Young Lions Tournament
- 1977 Young Lions Tournament
- 1986 Nissan Cup Individual Trophy
Japan Senior PGA Tour wins (5)
- 2005 Japan Senior Open
- 2006 Japan PGA Senior Championship, Japan Senior Open
- 2008 Japan Senior Open
- 2013 Starts Senior Golf Tournament
Results in major championships
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Summary
- Most consecutive cuts made – 4
- Longest streak of top-10s – 1
Results in The Players Championship
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Team appearances
- World Cup : 1996
- Nissan Cup/Kirin Cup : 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988
- Dunhill Cup : 1986
- Dynasty Cup : 2003