Tommy Nakajima is a Japanese professional golfer…..who turned professional in 1975…..and has won 48 events on the Japan Golf Tour….which ranks him third on the most Japan Golf Tour wins list…..plus, he also was the leading money winner four times over a five year period in 1982, 1983, 1985 and 1986….while he was 2nd on the career money list through 2009.
Nakajima was featured in the top 5 of the Official World Golf Rankings….while being ranked in the top-10 for 85 weeks from their debut in 1986 through 1987…..as he ranked as high as fifth on its predecessor the McCormack’s World Golf Rankings.
Nakajima is well known for memorable shots on the PGA….as seen in this video herewith…..where his ball gets stuck in a tree…..and he sends his caddie climbing up to find the ball….and then again at the 1978 Masters Tournament…..when 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….to which 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”.
