Chen Tze-chung

Chen Tze-chung
陳志忠
Personal information
Born (1958-06-24) 24 June 1958
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight 72 kg (159 lb; 11.3 st)
Nationality  Taiwan
Residence Taipei
Career
Turned professional 1980
Former tour(s) Japan Golf Tour
Asian Tour
PGA Tour
Professional wins 16
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour 1
Japan Golf Tour 6
Other 9
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament T12: 1987
U.S. Open T2: 1985
The Open Championship CUT: 1987
PGA Championship T23: 1985

Chen Tze-chung (陳志忠; pinyin: Chén Zhìzhōng) (born 24 June 1958) is a Taiwanese professional golfer. In the U.S., he is often referred to as T.C. Chen. His older brother, Chen Tze-ming, is also a professional golfer. In 1982, T.C. Chen became the first professional golfer from Taiwan to earn a PGA Tour card.[1] He played a total of 132 tournaments on the PGA Tour, making the cut in 78, with 13 top-ten finishes, and over $633,000 in total earnings.

At the 1985 U.S. Open, he scored the first double eagle in U.S. Open history and tied the record low scores for the championship at that time after 36 holes (134) and 54 holes (203), but he fell away in the final round and finished tied for second, one shot behind Andy North. His fourth round included a quadruple-bogey eight that featured a chip shot that he hit twice in one swing, and became part of the history of disastrous shots in the final round of a major. As a result of this shot, he is sometimes referred to as "Two Chip" Chen.[2]

Chen finished second twice in his career, at the 1983 Kemper Open, where he lost a five-man playoff to Fred Couples, and the 1985 U.S. Open. He played on the PGA Tour for 10 years, having his best year in 1987, when he finished 51st in earnings, 12th at the Masters, and won the 1987 Los Angeles Open. He would return to Asia in 1990, played extensively on the Japan Golf Tour, where he won six tournaments, and also appeared occasionally on the European Tour. He last played on the PGA Tour in 1997, returning to the U.S. to play in the Los Angeles Open. He played the 2008 Senior British Open on the Champions Tour and again returned to the United States for the 2012 U.S. Senior Open where he made the cut and finished 56th.

Professional wins (15)

PGA Tour wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of victory Runner-up
1 22 Feb 1987 Los Angeles Open −9 (70-67-67-71=275) Playoff United States Ben Crenshaw

PGA Tour playoff record (1–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result
1 1983 Kemper Open United States Fred Couples, United States Barry Jaeckel,
United States Gil Morgan, United States Scott Simpson		 Couples won with birdie on second extra hole
Jaeckel eliminated with par on first hole
2 1987 Los Angeles Open United States Ben Crenshaw Won with par on first extra hole

Japan Golf Tour wins (6)

Other wins (8)

  • 1984 King Grapes Classic (Japan)
  • 1985 Korean Open
  • 1989 Mercuries Taiwan Masters, Chang Hwa Open (Taipei), ROC PGA Championship (Taipei), Chang Kang Open (Taipei)
  • 1990 Japan Chunichi Crown Open
  • 1991 ROC PGA Championship (Taipei)

Japan PGA Senior Tour wins (1)

  • 2015 Iwasaki Shiratsuyu Senior Tournament

Results in major championships

Tournament 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
Masters Tournament T23 T12 T19 52
U.S. Open T2 T59 CUT CUT
The Open Championship CUT
PGA Championship 72 CUT T23 T47
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Summary

TournamentWins2nd3rdTop-5Top-10Top-25EventsCuts made
Masters Tournament00000344
U.S. Open01011142
The Open Championship00000010
PGA Championship00000143
Totals010115139
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 5 (1985 U.S. Open – 1987 Masters)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 1

Team appearances

Amateur

Professional

References

  1. ↑ Ballard, Sarah (16 June 1986). "Golf's own Chen Dynasty". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
  2. ↑ Cook, Chuck (August 2008). "Golf's Most Embarrassing Shots". Retrieved 5 May 2013.
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