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 professional win outside Japan came at the 1972 New Zealand PGA Championship.
The Most Successful Golfer in JGTO History
No golfer in Japanese history has matched the success and dominance of Ozaki. With 94 career wins, he leads the JGTO all-time list by 43 victories over second-placed Isao Aoki. He also claimed the tour’s Order of Merit a record 12 times. Thanks to his domestic success, Ozaki spent 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 wins 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 1.81m height and 90kg frame, Ozaki was especially known for his powerful drives and all-or-nothing playing style, which made him a fan favorite in Japan and a prominent public figure. 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 continued winning until age 55, when he claimed his final title nearly three decades later.
Capitalizing on his fame, Ozaki also pursued a music career in the late 1980s, releasing three singles that all charted in Japan.