Chen Tze-ming (, born 28 September 1952) is a Taiwanese professional

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

er who has played on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...

, the

Japan Golf Tour The Japan Golf Tour ( ja, 日本ゴルフツアー機構) is a prominent golf tour. It was founded in 1973 and as of 2006 it offers the third-highest annual prize fund out of the regular (that is not for seniors) men's professional tours after th ...

, the Asian Golf Circuit, the

Asian Tour The Asian Tour is the principal men's professional golf tour in Asia except for Japan, which has its own Japan Golf Tour, which is also a full member of the International Federation of PGA Tours. Official money events on the tour count for Wor ...

and the

PGA European Tour The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fift ...

. In the U.S., he is often referred to as T.M. Chen. His younger brother,

Chen Tze-chung Chen Tze-chung (; born 24 June 1958) is a Taiwanese professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour, the Japan Golf Tour, the Asian Golf Circuit, the Asian Tour and the European Tour. In the U.S., he is often referred to as T.C. Chen. His older ...

, is also a professional golfer who has won tournaments on the Japanese, Asian and American tours. For his country, Chen represented Taiwan at the

1974 Eisenhower Trophy The 1974 Eisenhower Trophy took place 30 October to 2 November at the Casa de Campo in La Romana, Dominican Republic. It was the ninth World Amateur Team Championship for the Eisenhower Trophy. The tournament was a 72-hole stroke play team event wi ...

, a world amateur team tournament, and then again in

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

, playing with his brother as Tze-ming posted the lowest individual score at +1. Chen also represented Taiwan as a professional in the 1979 World Cup, and in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

and

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

at the

Alfred Dunhill Cup The Alfred Dunhill Cup was a team golf tournament which ran from 1985 to 2000, sponsored by Alfred Dunhill Ltd. It was for three-man teams of professional golfers, one team representing each country, and was promoted as the "World Team Championshi ...

tournament, a country-based team golf competition, again playing alongside his brother.

Early life

Chen was born in

Linkou District Linkou District () is a district in the northwestern part of New Taipei City in northern Taiwan. The name "Linkou" translates to "forest mouth"; in fact, for much of its history, Linkou remained a relatively rural and undeveloped district. This ...

Taipei City Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the Capital city, capital and a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality of the Taiwan, Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Regions of Taiwan, Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of t ...

, in northern Taiwan. His grandfather farmed the land that would become the Linkou International Golf Club and his father worked as a greenskeeper at the club. Picking up golf at a young age, his younger brother Tze-chung then followed Tze-ming and picked up the game in his teens, with the brothers often playing together on tour and together in team competitions for Taiwan over their careers.

Professional career

Chen gained early notice at the 1978

Malaysian Dunlop Masters The Malaysian Dunlop Masters was a golf tournament in Malaysia in the 1970s and 1980s. Taiwanese golfer Chen Tze-ming won the 1978 event by a record 15 strokes. Despite his record-breaking win runner-up Simon Owen took the first prize money as Chen ...

, winning by a record 15 strokes, but due to his amateur status, runner-up

Simon Owen Simon Owen (born 10 December 1950) is a professional golfer from New Zealand. Early life Owen was born in Wanganui. Professional career He turned professional in 1971 and has won several tournaments in Australasia. He played on the Europe ...

took home the prize money. Chen turned professional later that same year. As a professional, he won nine tournaments on the

, with four of those victories coming in 1992 when he finished third on the end of year money list. His best finish in a

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

was a tie for 3rd in the

1985 PGA Championship The 1985 PGA Championship was the 67th PGA Championship, held August 8–11 at Cherry Hills Country Club in Cherry Hills Village, Colorado, a suburb south of Denver. Hubert Green won his second major title, two strokes ahead of defending champion ...

, with a stellar final round 65 (281 overall, 3 strokes behind winner

Hubert Green Hubert Myatt Green (December 28, 1946 – June 19, 2018) was an American professional golfer who won 29 professional golf tournaments, including two major championships: the 1977 U.S. Open and the 1985 PGA Championship. He was inducted into the ...

). Of note, the Chen family dominated the final round as the second highest score belonged to his brother Tze-chung, who shot a 66 and finished tied for 23rd. Tze-ming also won seven times on the

Asia Golf Circuit The Asia Golf Circuit was the principal men's professional golf tour in Southeast Asia from the early 1960s through to the mid-late 1990s. The tour was founded in 1961 as the Far East Circuit. The first series of five tournaments was held in 1962 ...

and topped the tour's Order of Merit in 1985. As a senior, Chen won the 2002

Japan PGA Senior Championship The Japan PGA Senior Championship is one of the major events on the Japan Senior Tour. It was first played in 1962. The 2007 prize money was ¥50,000,000. Winners ''this list is incomplete'' *2021 Mitsuhiro Tateyama *2020 Masayoshi Nakayama *20 ...

Personal life

Chen and his brother have run and coached in the junior program at the Linkou Golf Club in

. He now lives in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Professional wins (21)

Japan Golf Tour wins (9)

''*Note: Tournament shortened to 54 holes due to weather.'' Japan Golf Tour playoff record (4–0)

Asia Golf Circuit wins (7)

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

Korean Open *

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

Hong Kong Open, Korean Open *

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

Taiwan Open *

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

Thailand Open *

Singapore Open *

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

Thai International Thailand Open The Thailand Open is the national golf open of Thailand. History It was founded as an event on the Far East Circuit, later renamed as the Asia Golf Circuit. It remained on the circuit until 1997, after which it became an event on the Asian Tour ...

Other wins (3)

:''this list may be incomplete'' *1978

(as an amateur) *1985

Rolex Masters The Rolex Masters was a golf tournament held in Singapore from 1973 to 1998. It was played on the Singapore Island Country Club's Bukit course. For the first three years it was played as a 54-hole invitation event, before extending to 72-holes in ...

(Singapore) *1987

(Singapore)

Senior wins (2)

''this list may be incomplete'' *2002

*2003 Castle Hill Open

Results in major championships

CUT = missed the half-way cut (3rd round cut in 1985 Open Championship)
"T" = tied

Team appearances

''this list may be incomplete'' Amateur *

Eisenhower Trophy The Eisenhower Trophy (World Men's Amateur Team Championships) is the biennial World Amateur Team Championship for men organized by the International Golf Federation. Since the tournament was first played in 1958, it is named after Dwight D. Eisen ...

(representing Taiwan):

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

(individual leader, tie) Professional *

Dunhill Cup The Alfred Dunhill Cup was a team golf tournament which ran from 1985 to 2000, sponsored by Alfred Dunhill Ltd. It was for three-man teams of professional golfers, one team representing each country, and was promoted as the "World Team Championshi ...

(representing Taiwan):

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

(representing Taiwan):

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

References

External links

* *
Profile on 2004 Senior PGA Championship site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chen, Tze-ming Taiwanese male golfers Japan Golf Tour golfers Asian Tour golfers Sportspeople from Taipei 1952 births Living people