Takashi Murakami ( ja, 村上隆, born 25 May 1944) is a Japanese

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

Early life

Murakami was born in

Shizuoka Shizuoka can refer to: * Shizuoka Prefecture, a Japanese prefecture * Shizuoka (city), the capital city of Shizuoka Prefecture * Shizuoka Airport * Shizuoka Domain, the name from 1868 to 1871 for Sunpu Domain, a predecessor of Shizuoka Prefecture ...

. He started playing golf at the age of 11.

Professional career

He won 11 tournaments on 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 ...

and led the money list in 1975. Murakami also had a decent amount of success outside of Japan. He recorded a number of runner-up finishes in the

Australasian region The Australasian realm is a biogeographic realm that is coincident with, but not (by some definitions) the same as, the geographical region of Australasia. The realm includes Australia, the island of New Guinea (comprising Papua New Guinea and th ...

. They were the 1968 West Australian Championship, 1969

Australian PGA Championship The Australian PGA Championship is a golf tournament on the PGA Tour of Australasia. It is the home tournament of the Australian PGA. Since 2000 it has been held in the South East Queensland region. The tournament was part of the OneAsia Tour fro ...

, and 1972

New Zealand PGA Championship The New Zealand PGA Championship is a golf tournament on the PGA Tour of Australasia. It is currently known for sponsorship reasons as the SEC NZ PGA Championship. History The tournament been played since 1909, with some gap periods. It was orig ...

. He also had much success 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 ...

events in 1972. He won the Malaysian Open and finished runner-up at the Singapore Open and Hong Kong Open. In the United States he finished in a tie for second at 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 ...

's 1977

Hawaiian Open The Sony Open in Hawaii is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, and is part of the tour's FedEx Cup Series. It has been contested at the Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, Hawaii, since the event's modern-day inception as the Hawaiian O ...

. He also played in the

Masters Tournament The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply The Masters, or the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, the Masters is the first maj ...

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 ...

and

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

Professional wins (18)

PGA of Japan Tour wins (11)

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

(1) All Nippon Doubles (with

Hideyo Sugimoto Hideyo Sugimoto (born 16 February 1938) is a Japanese professional golfer. Early life Sugimoto was born in the Shizuoka Prefecture of Japan in 1938. He started to play golf at the age of 17. Professional career Sugimoto turned professiona ...

) *

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 ...

(2)

Chunichi Crowns is a professional golf tournament that is played over Nagoya Golf Club's Wagō Course in Tōgō, Aichi, Japan. Founded in 1960, it has been an event on the Japan Golf Tour schedule since the tour's first season in 1973. History The Crowns was ...

Golf Digest Tournament The Golf Digest Tournament was a golf tournament in Japan. It was founded in 1971 and was part of the Japan Golf Tour from 1973 to 1997. It was played in October at the Tōmei Country Club near Susono, Shizuoka Shizuoka can refer to: * Shizuoka P ...

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

(4) Japan PGA Match-Play Championship, Japan Open,

Japan PGA Championship The is a professional golf tournament on the Japan Golf Tour, and is one of the tour's four major championships. It was founded in 1926, making it one of the oldest professional tournaments in Japan, and is played at a variety of courses througho ...

Golf Nippon Series The is a professional golf tournament on the Japan Golf Tour. First played in 1963, it is one of the tour's four major championships. Since 1995, it has been held at the Tokyo Yomiuri Country Club in Inagi, Tokyo. History From its inception in 1 ...

(3)

ANA Sapporo Open The is a professional golf tournament on the Japan Golf Tour. Founded as the Sapporo Open, it has been sponsored by All Nippon Airways since 1973, initially as the ANA Sapporo Open. It is usually held in September each year at the Sapporo Golf Clu ...

Kanto Pro Championship The Kanto Pro Championship was a professional golf tournament in Japan . It was first played in 1931 and was an event on the Japan Golf Tour from 1973 to 1990. It was played in July at a variety of courses in Eastern Japan, mainly in the Kantō reg ...

Bridgestone Tournament The was a professional golf tournament in Japan, sponsored by Bridgestone. Founded in 1972, it had been an event on the Japan Golf Tour since in inaugural season in 1973. From 1972 to 1984, the title of the event was the Bridgestone Tournament, be ...

(1)

Asia Golf Circuit win (1)

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

Malaysian Open

Japanese circuit wins (6)

*1967 Grand Monarch *1968

Rolex Tournament The Arnold Palmer Cup—Rolex Golf Classic was a limited field invitational professional golf tournament in Japan from 1968 to 1973. The players gained entry to the tournament via a poll of golf fans, with former winners and a big-name internationa ...

*1969 All Nippon Doubles (with

) *1970 All Nippon Doubles (with

) *1972 All Nippon Doubles (with

Masashi Ozaki is a Japanese professional golfer. Ozaki is often known as Jumbo Ozaki (ジャンボ尾崎 ''Janbo Ozaki'') on account of his height and length off the tee. He featured in the top ten of the Official World Golf Rankings for almost 200 weeks betw ...

Tohoku Classic The JCB Classic was a professional golf tournament held near Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It was founded in 1972 as the Tohoku Classic, and was an event on the Japan Golf Tour The Japan Golf Tour ( ja, 日本ゴルフツアー機構) is ...

Team appearances

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 Japan):

References

External links

* Japanese male golfers Japan Golf Tour golfers Sportspeople from Shizuoka Prefecture 1944 births Living people {{Japan-golf-bio-stub