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 colorectal 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 in Japanese history has been as dominant as Ozaki. With 94 career wins, he holds a commanding lead over second-place Isao Aoki, who has 43 fewer titles. Ozaki also won the JGTO Order of Merit a record 12 times. His domestic success earned him 200 weeks in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking and helped popularize the sport in Japan. While his international wins were limited, he still posted 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 1.81-meter, 90kg 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 claimed his first JGTO win in 1973 at age 26 and continued winning until age 55, when he captured his final title nearly three decades later.
Ozaki also ventured into music in the late 1980s, releasing three singles that all charted in Japan, further cementing his status as a national celebrity.