is a Japanese professional golfer.
Career
Tanaka was born in Hiroshima Prefecture. He turned professional in 1991, joined the Japan Golf Tour in 1995 and played mainly on that tour until 2001. He won 10 times on tour.
Tanaka earned a PGA Tour card for 2002 at the 2001 Qualifying School, and held his card through 2006 by finishing in the top 125 on the money list each year. In 2006, he lost his card by finishing 224th on the money list. His best finishes on the PGA Tour are two T-3, at the 2004 B.C. Open and the 2005 Chrysler Championship.
Professional wins (15)
Japan Golf Tour wins (10)
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"
! Legend
|- style="background:#f2ecce;"
| Flagship events (1)
|-
| Other Japan Golf Tour (7)
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"
!No.
!Date
!Tournament
!Winning score
!Margin of<br>victory
!Runner(s)-up
|-
|align=center|1
|align=right|29 Oct 1995
|Philip Morris Championship
|−10 (67-73-69-69=278)
|1 stroke
| Naomichi Ozaki, Nobumitsu Yuhara
|-
|align=center|2
|align=right|19 May 1996
|Pepsi Ube Kosan Open
|−20 (68-64-65-67=264)
|2 strokes
| Tsuneyuki Nakajima, Brian Watts
|-
|align=center|3
|align=right|26 Jul 1998
|Aiful Cup
|−15 (68-70-69-66=273)
|1 stroke
| Toshimitsu Izawa, Tatsuo Takasaki
|-style="background:#f2ecce;"
|align=center|4
|align=right|4 Oct 1998
|Japan Open Golf Championship
|−5 (72-70-72-69=283)
|1 stroke
| Naomichi Ozaki
|-
|align=center|5
|align=right|13 Dec 1998
|DDI Group Okinawa Open
|−11 (70-67-69-67=273)
|3 strokes
| Akihito Tokoyama
|-
|align=center|6
|align=right|7 Nov 1999
|Acom International
|−19 (66-69-66-68=269)
|5 strokes
| Keiichiro Fukabori
|-
|align=center|7
|align=right|19 Mar 2000
|Dydo Drinco Shizuoka Open
|−14 (66-70-70-68=274)
|2 strokes
| Eiji Mizoguchi
|-
|align=center|8
|align=right|30 Apr 2000
|The Crowns
|−8 (69-69-67-67=272)
|5 strokes
| Mitsutaka Kusakabe
|-
|align=center|9
|align=right|15 Apr 2001
|Tsuruya Open
|−14 (71-69-68-66=274)
|2 strokes
| Masayuki Kawamura
|-
|align=center|10
|align=right|24 Jun 2001
|Gateway to The Open Mizuno Open
|−16 (66-69-68-69=272)
|3 strokes
| Eduardo Herrera
|}
Japan Golf Tour playoff record (0–1)
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"
!No.!!Year!!Tournament!!Opponent!!Result
|-style="background:#F2C1D1;"
|align=center|1
|2000
|Tsuruya Open
| Richard Backwell
|Lost to par on fourth extra hole
|}
Japan Challenge Tour wins (2)
- 1995 Mito Green Open, Korakuen Cup (2nd)
Other wins (3)
- 1996 Hirao Masaaki Pro-Am (Japan)
- 1998 Hirao Masaaki Pro-Am (Japan)
- 2001 Hawaii Pearl Open
Results in major championships
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;"
!Tournament
!1996
!1997
!1998
!1999
!2000
!2001
!2002
!2003
!2004
|-
|align=left|U.S. Open
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|T37
|T15
|T36
|-
|align=left|The Open Championship
|T33
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|CUT
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|CUT
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|-
|align=left|PGA Championship
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|CUT
|79
|CUT
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|T55
|}
Note: Tanaka never played in the Masters Tournament<br>
CUT = missed the half-way cut<br>
"T" = tied
Results in The Players Championship
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;"
!Tournament
!2003!!2004!!2005!!2006
|-
|align=left|The Players Championship
|CUT
|T81
|WD
|CUT
|}
CUT = missed the halfway cut<br>
WD = withdrew<br>
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Results in World Golf Championships
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
!Tournament!!2000!!2001
|-
|align="left"|Match Play
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|R32
|-
|align="left"|Championship
|T11
|NT<sup>1</sup>
|-
|align="left"|Invitational
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|}
<sup>1</sup>Cancelled due to 9/11<br>
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play<br>
"T" = Tied<br>
NT = No tournament
Team appearances
- World Cup (representing Japan): 2000, 2003, 2004
See also
- 2001 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates
- List of golfers with most Japan Golf Tour wins