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Masashi “Jumbo” Ozaki, whose 113 world victories were the most by a Japanese player, died Wednesday in his home country after a battle with colon cancer, the Japan Golf Tour said. He was 78.
Ozaki was revered in Japan, a powerful hitter with a sense of style who won the Japan Golf Tour 94 times over 29 years, most recently at the 2002 ANA Open when he was 55 years old.
In 1996, at the age of 49, he rose to 5th place in the world rankings. Ozaki was often overlooked due to the fact that he never won outside of Japan, with the exception of the New Zealand PGA Championship. In 2011, he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
“He is an indispensable and one-of-a-kind figure in the discussion of men's golf, both now and in the future,” the tour said in a social media post.
Ozaki played in 49 tournaments, with his best finish coming at the 1989 US Open at Oak Hill, when he finished three shots behind Curtis Strange. He played the Masters for the 19th and final time in 2000, when he was 53 years old, and tied for 28th place.
Isao Aoki became the first Japanese player to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame, while Hideki Matsuyama became the first to win a major at the 2021 Masters. Both were in some way inspired by Ozaki, a pioneer in a country now obsessed with golf.
Ozaki won the Japan Open five times and the Japan PGA Championship six times. He topped the Japan Golf Tour money list a record 12 times, including five times in a row from 1994 to 1998. He won his last cash title in 2002, when he was 55 years old.
When he was inducted into the Hall of Fame, Ozaki said his only regret was that he no longer played outside of Japan.
Silk shirts and baggy trousers
“But I have dedicated my life to Japanese golf and am extremely grateful that the voters considered me worthy of this honor,” he said after his election. He received 50 percent of the votes in the international vote.
Ozaki was looked upon as the Arnold Palmer of Japanese golf with his powerful swing, charisma and sense of style, often wearing silk shirts and baggy trousers. And his skill was not limited to golf. He played guitar and had three of his songs on the pop charts in Japan, according to the Hall of Fame.
His first love was baseball, and he pitched professionally for three years before taking up golf. This became evident when Ryo Ishikawa, who won his first golf tournament title in Japan at age 15, spoke about Ozaki's influence. Ishikawa said he would visit Ozaki about 10 times a year to seek advice.
“Jumbo used to play baseball, so he was always trying to teach me how to relate a pitch or a swing to golf,” Ishikawa said in a 2010 interview with The Associated Press. “Jumbo wanted me to hit the ball wide.”
Ozaki traveled with an entourage when playing outside Japan in major tournaments, usually renting a house and inviting a sushi chef to make his men feel at home.
He has two younger brothers who also played on the tour, Naomichi (Joe) and Tateo (Jet).
Ozaki played in the 1996 Presidents Cup, teaming with Vijay Singh to defeat the American duo of Fred Parse and Davis Love III. He qualified for the 1998 team but declined the trip to Australia and his brother Joe played in his place.
