# Chen Tze-ming

Chen Tze-ming (Chinese: 陳志明, born 28 September 1952) is a Taiwanese professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour, Japan Golf Tour, Asia Golf Circuit, Asian Tour and the European Tour. In the U.S., he is often referred to as T.M. Chen. His younger brother, Chen Tze-chung, 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, a world amateur team tournament, and then again in 1976, 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 and 1994 at the Alfred Dunhill Cup tournament, a country-based team golf competition, again playing alongside his brother.

## Early life

Chen was born in Linkou District, Taipei City, 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, winning by a record 15 strokes, but due to his amateur status, runner-up Simon Owen took home the prize money. Chen turned professional later that same year. As a professional, he won nine tournaments on the Japan Golf Tour, 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 was a tie for 3rd in the 1985 PGA Championship, with a stellar final round 65 (281 overall, 3 strokes behind winner Hubert Green). 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 and topped the tour's Order of Merit in 1985. As a senior, Chen won the 2002 Japan PGA Senior Championship.

## Personal life

Chen and his brother have run and coached in the junior program at the Linkou Golf Club in Taipei City. He now lives in Tokyo.

## Professional wins (21)
### PGA of Japan Tour wins (9)

| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner(s)-up |
| 1 | 29 Aug 1982 | KBC Augusta | −7 (68-71-70=209)* | 1 stroke | Hal Sutton |
| 2 | 1 May 1983 | Chunichi Crowns | E (71-67-71-71=280) | Playoff | Kikuo Arai, David Ishii |
| 3 | 20 Nov 1983 | Dunlop Phoenix Tournament | −2 (74-71-71-70=286) | Playoff | Tom Watson |
| 4 | 26 May 1985 | Pepsi Ube Open | −20 (65-71-66-66=268) | 4 strokes | Katsunari Takahashi |
| 5 | 24 May 1987 | Pepsi Ube Open (2) | −10 (69-72-70-67=278) | Playoff | Hiroshi Makino |
| 6 | 8 Mar 1992 | Daiichi Cup | −11 (66-71-70-70=277) | 1 stroke | Roger Mackay |
| 7 | 12 Apr 1992 | Pocari Sweat Open | −11 (69-67-66=202)* | 3 strokes | Saburo Fujiki, Yoshinori Kaneko, Hirofumi Miyase, Kiyoshi Murota, Nobuo Serizawa, Koichi Suzuki, Akihito Yokoyama |
| 8 | 30 Aug 1992 | Daiwa KBC Augusta | −12 (72-69-68-67=276) | Playoff | Bradley Hughes, Norikazu Kawakami |
| 9 | 6 Dec 1992 | Golf Nippon Series Hitachi Cup | −8 (72-70-66-72=280) | 1 stroke | Todd Hamilton |
*Note: Tournament shortened to 54 holes due to weather.
PGA of Japan Tour playoff record (4–0)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent(s) | Result |
| 1 | 1983 | Chunichi Crowns | Kikuo Arai, David Ishii | Won with par on second extra hole |
| 2 | 1983 | Dunlop Phoenix Tournament | Tom Watson | Won with par on first extra hole |
| 3 | 1987 | Pepsi Ube Open | Hiroshi Makino | Won with birdie on first extra hole |
| 4 | 1992 | Daiwa KBC Augusta | Bradley Hughes, Norikazu Kawakami | Won with birdie on first extra hole |

### Asia Golf Circuit wins (7)

| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner(s)-up |
| 1 | 20 Apr 1980 | Korea Open | −4 (68-72-74=214)* | 1 stroke | Choi Sang-ho, Hisao Inoue, Kim Suk-bong, Park Jung-woong, Yeom Se-woon |
| 2 | 1 Mar 1981 | Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Open | E (70-71-69-69=279) | 1 stroke | Graham Marsh |
| 3 | 19 Apr 1981 | Korea Open (2) | −3 (71-67-70-76=285) | 1 stroke | Hsu Chi-san |
| 4 | 11 Apr 1982 | Taiwan Open | +1 (69-72-75-73=289) | 2 strokes | Chien Shun-lu (a), Kuo Chie-Hsiung |
| 5 | 27 Mar 1983 | Thailand Open | −5 (70-73-68-72=283) | 1 stroke | Lou Graham, Lu Chien-soon, Frankie Miñoza |
| 6 | 31 Mar 1985 | Singapore Open | −10 (67-69-68-70=274) | Playoff | Greg Turner |
| 7 | 15 Mar 1987 | Thai International Thailand Open (2) | −12 (70-66-70-66=272) | Playoff | Somsak Srisanga |
**Note: The 1980 Korea Open was shortened to 54 holes due to weather.
Asia Golf Circuit playoff record (2–0)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result |
| 1 | 1985 | Singapore Open | Greg Turner | Won with birdie on first extra hole |
| 2 | 1987 | Thai International Thailand Open | Somsak Srisanga | Won with birdie on third extra hole |

### Other wins (3)

    this list may be incomplete
* 1978 Malaysian Dunlop Masters (as an amateur)
* 1985 Rolex Masters (Singapore)
* 1987 Rolex Masters (Singapore)

### Senior wins (2)

this list may be incomplete
* 2002 Japan PGA Senior Championship
* 2003 Castle Hill Open

## Results in major championships

| Tournament | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1993 |
| Masters Tournament | | CUT | | |
| U.S. Open | | CUT | | |
| The Open Championship | CUT | | CUT | CUT |
| PGA Championship | T3 | CUT | | |
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 (representing Taiwan): 1974, 1976 (individual leader, tie)
Professional
* Dunhill Cup (representing Taiwan): 1985, 1994
* World Cup (representing Taiwan): 1979