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Masashi “Jumbo” Ozaki, arguably the greatest Japanese golfer of all time, died Tuesday at age 78 from colon cancer.
Ozaki has won 113 tournaments worldwide, including 94 on the Japan Golf Tour, becoming an inspiration to 2021 Masters winner Hideki Matsuyama.
Ozaki became a regular at Augusta National Golf Club in 1972, but he did not compete there from 1980 to 1987.
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Jumbo Ozaki watches his shot from the finishing position during the Masters tournament at Augusta National Golf Club in April 1998 in Georgia. (Augusta National/Getty Images)
Of his 49 major championship appearances, 19 came at the Masters, with his best finish coming in 1973, when he tied for eighth.
Ozaki also earned a tie for 10th place at the 1979 Open Championship and a tie for sixth place at the 1989 US Open.
He rose to fifth in the world in 1996 at the age of 49 and spent more than 200 consecutive weeks in the top 10. Ozaki has often been overlooked for having never won outside of Japan, with the exception of the New Zealand PGA Championship. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2011.
Jumbo Ozaki flies off the tee box in front of a large gallery during the Masters tournament at Augusta National Golf Club in April 1990. (Augusta National/Getty Images)
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“He is an indispensable and one-of-a-kind figure in discussions about men’s golf, today and in the future,” the tour said in a social media post.
Ozaki has won the Japan Open five times and the Japan PGA Championship six times. He topped the Japan Golf Tour money list 12 times, including five in a row from 1994 to 1998. He won his last money title in 2002, at the age of 55.
Jumbo Ozaki of Japan lines up his putt during the first round of the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky. (David Cannon/Allsport)
Ozaki competed at the 1996 Presidents Cup, partnering with Vijay Singh to beat the American duo of Fred Couples and Davis Love III. He qualified for the 1998 team but decided not to travel to Australia and his brother Joe played instead.
