Japanese golf icon Masashi ‘Jumbo’ Ozaki has died at 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 win outside Japan came at the 1972 New Zealand PGA Championship.
Most Successful Golfer in JGTO History
No golfer has dominated Japanese golf like Ozaki. With 94 career wins, he holds a 43-win lead over second-place Isao Aoki. He also won the JGTO Order of Merit twelve times, another record. Thanks to his domestic success, Ozaki spent a total of 200 weeks in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking and played a key role in popularizing golf in Japan. While his international victories were limited, he still 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 in his home country.
His path to golf was unconventional. Originally a promising baseball talent, he won a national high school championship and played professionally for three years before switching to golf at age 23. He claimed his first JGTO title in 1973 at age 26 and continued winning until age 55, when he captured his final tour victory 29 years later.
Leveraging his fame, Ozaki even launched a music career in the late 1980s, releasing three singles that all charted in Japan.