Larger-than-life Japanese golf star dies after cancer battle

• Masashi “Jumbo” Ozaki, the most decorated golfer on the Japan Golf Tour, has died at age 78.
• Ozaki won 94 titles on the Japanese circuit and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2011.
• Before his golf career, Ozaki was a professional baseball player in Japan for three years.

Masashi “Jumbo” Ozaki, the winningest golfer on the Japan Golf Tour, died on Wednesday at age 78. Reports in his native Japan said the cause of death was colorectal cancer.

Ozaki claimed his first of 94 titles on the Japanese circuit in 1973, including six Japan PGA Championships and five Japan Open titles. He secured his final victory in 2002 at age 55, three years older than the PGA Tour record held by Sam Snead. He topped the money list in Japan a record 12 times, including five in a row beginning in 1994.

Ozaki was ranked among the top 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking for more than 200 weeks, climbing as high as No. 5, was a member of the International Team in the Presidents Cup in 1996 and twice represented Japan at the World Cup (1974, 1988).

He played sparingly outside of Japan, making just 96 career starts on the PGA Tour, with a career best a T-4 at the 1993 Memorial. He was the first Japanese player to finish in the top 10 at the Masters. When he did venture outside his homeland to play, Ozaki usually rented a house and brought a sushi chef with him so that he and his entourage would feel at home.

“My only regret is not playing more outside of Japan,” said Ozaki, whose only win outside Japan was at the 1972 New Zealand PGA, upon being elected in the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2011. “But I dedicated my life to Japanese golf and am extremely grateful the voters thought I was worthy of this honor.”

Ozaki was born on Jan. 24, 1947, in Tokushima, Japan. He was a high school baseball star, leading his team to the Senbatsu High School Baseball Tournament championship as the ace pitcher in 1964. He played professionally for three years as a pitcher and an outfielder for the Nishitetsu Lions. But at age 23, he left behind baseball and committed to golf. 

With his powerful stroke, Ozaki became the Babe Ruth of golf in Japan and combined his winning ways with the charisma of Arnold Palmer. Noted for his colorful attire, featuring baggy pants and roomy shirts, Ozaki popularized the game to new heights in Japan and Asia and had crossover appeal into pop culture. He also was a singer and guitarist, who had three singles that topped Japan’s charts in the late 1980s. 

His younger brothers Naomichi (Joe) and Tateo (Jet) also enjoyed successful careers in Japan and played limited schedules in the U.S.