Tour News

Japan PGA leaders resign after link to criminal organization

Published

12 years ago

Dec 18, 2013

Stephen Staller

Shizuo Mori (second from the left) will step down as Japan PGA Chairman.

All 91 of the remaining Japan PGA representatives will step down from their respective positions following the reports of two members’ interactions with a clan leader of the Yakuza, the world’s largest criminal organization.

Shinsaku Maeda and Tadayoshi Bando, Japan PGA vice chairman and board director, respectively, were found to have golfed and dined with the head of a Yakuza clan in the southern island of Kyushu between the months of March and June this year. Since the Japan PGA does not condone any affiliation with organized crime syndicates, Maedo and Bando were expelled from the organization in October.

“We take the matter very seriously,” Nobuyuki Abe, a current Japan PGA vice chairman, told Jili. “We want to do our utmost to prevent a recurrence of such a case.”

Among those stepping down are 20 board directors, four vice chairmen and chairman Shizuo Mori. These representatives, along with 66 others, will voluntarily “step down to help restore public trust in the body,” according to a Jiji Press reports. Elections for new Japan PGA representatives have been scheduled for January.

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Stephen Staller

Stephen Staller is a Project Assistant at GolfWRX.com.

5 Comments

Lazza

Dec 19, 2013 at 12:36 pm

Wish the South African government would step down as readily as these guys did.

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Shocked!!

Dec 18, 2013 at 8:02 pm

Oh my goodness…. Corruption in a major cooperation in Japan…. Color me shocked.

Oh wait…. The PGA is non-profit…. I wonder what the Yakuza had in mind for a non-profit… So strange…

(Sarcasm)

Reply Report comment
paul

Dec 18, 2013 at 6:59 pm

Crazy. makes you wonder if they have that much honor and integrity or if they were all guilty.

Reply Report comment
- CR
  
  Dec 19, 2013 at 2:31 am
  
  Doh! It’s all of the above, of course!
  
  Think outside the box, buddy. Look at it this way: ALL 91 people are resigning. Where are they going to go? What are they going to do? Do you think any other peoples or nations or cultures around the whole planet would do such a thing, taking responsibility and owning up to their actions and committing career suicide? No way!
  
  That’s what’s amazing about Japan. It’s a bit nutty.
  
  Reply Report comment
Deaus

Dec 18, 2013 at 6:01 pm

The Yakuza in Japan are treated far differently then Organized Crime groups in other countries. In fact they are taxed. The Yakuza (yamaguchi gumi) were responsible for the downfall of the MMA org. PRIDE FC,the largest MMA org. in the world at the time. This will have HUGE implications for JPGA endorsements and sponsorship just like it did to PRIDE FC which actually went under within a year. They are still frowned upon by society but not stigmatized like other OC groups ie. Cosa Nostra or Triads.

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Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2026 PGA Championship

Published

2 days ago

May 11, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

GolfWRX is on site for the second major of 2026: The PGA Championship from Aronimink in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.

The tournament’s location, just outside Philadelphia, and its status as a major championship mean GolfWRXers are in for a treat: WITBs from a strong field, custom gear celebrating the PGA Championship, and the rich culture of the City of Brotherly Love — we have noted a relative absence of cheesesteak-themed items thus far this week, but most of the rest of the usual suspects are well represented.

Check out links to all our photos below.