Japan’s most successful professional golfer, Masashi “Jumbo” Ozaki, has died at the age of 78.
Nicknamed “Jumbo” for his long drives, Ozaki won 94 tournaments on the Japan Golf Tour and topped the country’s order of merit 12 times. He spent nearly 200 weeks in the world top 10 and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2011.
Before golf, Ozaki played professional baseball. He won his first golf tournament in 1973 at age 26 and his last at 55. He also recorded top-10 finishes at The Open, the Masters, and the US Open. Known for his love of home comforts, he would even travel with a sushi chef when competing abroad.
Ozaki also dabbled in singing, releasing three singles that made the Japanese charts in the late 1980s.
According to the Japan Golf Tour Organisation, Ozaki passed away after a year-long battle with colon cancer, as announced by his son Tomoharu. JGTO chairman Yutaka Morohoshi described him as a man who “overwhelmed others with his unparalleled strength” and “long steered the men’s professional golf world.”
