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 victory outside Japan came in 1972 at the New Zealand PGA Championship.
Most Successful Golfer in JGTO History
No golfer has dominated Japanese golf like Ozaki. With 94 career wins, he leads the all-time JGTO list by 43 over second-place Isao Aoki. He also won the Japan Tour’s Order of Merit a record twelve times. Thanks to his domestic success, Ozaki spent 200 weeks in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking and played a major role in popularizing golf in Japan. While his international wins were limited, he posted top-10 finishes at the 1973 Masters, the 1989 U.S. Open, and the 1979 Open Championship.
A Unique Life On and Off the Course
Nicknamed ‘Jumbo’ for his 1.81-meter, 90-kilogram frame and powerful drives, Ozaki thrilled Japanese crowds with his all-or-nothing playing style and became a household name. 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 at age 26 and claimed his final title 29 years later at age 55.
Leveraging his fame, Ozaki launched a music career in the late 1980s, releasing three singles that all charted in Japan.