Japanese golf icon Masashi ‘Jumbo’ Ozaki has died at age 78. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2011.
Masashi ‘Jumbo’ Ozaki passed away on Tuesday at the age of 78 due to colon cancer. Ozaki won a record 94 tournaments on the Japan Golf Tour Organization (JGTO), including five Japan Open titles and six Japan PGA Championships. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2011. His only international victory came at the 1972 New Zealand PGA Championship.
Most Successful Golfer in JGTO History
No golfer in Japanese history has matched Ozaki’s dominance. With 94 career wins, he holds a commanding lead over second-place Isao Aoki, who has 43 fewer. Ozaki also won the JGTO Order of Merit a record 12 times. His success kept him in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking for 200 weeks and played a major role in popularizing golf in Japan. While his international wins were limited, he had strong showings at major championships, including top-10 finishes at the 1973 Masters, 1989 U.S. Open, and 1979 Open Championship.
A Unique Life On and Off the Course
Nicknamed ‘Jumbo’ for his 1.81m height and 90kg frame, Ozaki was known for his powerful drives and all-or-nothing playing style that thrilled fans across Japan. His path to golf was unconventional—he was a promising baseball player who won a national high school championship and played professionally for three years before switching to golf at age 23. He won his first JGTO event in 1973 and continued winning until age 55, when he claimed his final title nearly three decades later.
Ozaki’s popularity extended beyond golf. In the late 1980s, he launched a music career, releasing three singles that all charted in Japan.