is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

professional

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

er. Ozaki is often known as Jumbo Ozaki (ジャンボ尾崎 ''Janbo Ozaki'') on account of his height and length off the tee. He featured in the top ten of the

Official World Golf Rankings The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of professional golfers. It was started in 1986. The rankings are based on a player's position in individual tournaments (i.e. not pairs or team events) over a "rolling ...

for almost 200 weeks between 1989 and 1998. He is the most successful player of all time on the

Japan Golf Tour The Japan Golf Tour () is a prominent professional golf tour. It was founded in 1973 and as of 2006, it offered the third-highest annual prize fund out of the regular (that is not for seniors) men's professional tours after the PGA Tour and the ...

, having led the money list a record 12 times and won 94 tournaments, over 40 more than the second highest player. Ozaki was inducted into the

World Golf Hall of Fame The World Golf Hall of Fame was, until recently, located at World Golf Village between Jacksonville, Florida and St. Augustine, Florida, in the United States. It is unusual amongst sports halls of fame in that a single site honored both men ...

in 2011.

Early life

Ozaki was born in Kaifu District, Tokushima.

Professional career

Ozaki was a professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher/outfielder from 1965 to 1967 with the

Nishitetsu Lions The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based north of Tokyo in Tokorozawa, Saitama, Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture. Before 1979, they were based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture, in Kyushu. The team is owned by a subsidiar ...

. However, he turned to professional golf at the age of 23 and won the Japan PGA Championship the following year. Ozaki led the

in earnings in 1973–1974, 1977, 1988–1990, 1992, and 1994–1998. Ozaki finished 8th at the 1973 Masters Tournament and finished 6th at the 1989 U.S. Open. He competed at the Masters 19 times. He played occasionally on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

from 1972 to 2000, in 96 tournaments, though never more than nine in one year. In these starts, his best finish was a T-4 at the 1993

Memorial Tournament The Memorial Tournament (branded as the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, Inc., Workday for sponsorship reasons, and also referred to as simply the Memorial) is a PGA Tour golf tournament founded in 1976 by Jack Nicklaus. It is played on ...

. Ozaki played on the International Team in the 1996

Presidents Cup The Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world except Europe as that continent competes against the United States in a similar but ...

. Ozaki built "AON Age" with his rivals

Isao Aoki is a Japanese professional golfer. He was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2004. Early life Aoki was born in Abiko, Chiba, Japan. He was introduced to golf while caddying at the Abiko Golf Club as a schoolboy. Professional career I ...

and Tsuneyuki "Tommy" Nakajima. As late as 2019, he still played occasionally on the Japan Golf Tour.

Personal life

Ozaki's brothers Tateo "Jet" Ozaki and Naomichi "Joe" Ozaki are also successful touring professional golfers.

Professional wins (114)

Japan Golf Tour wins (94)

''*Note: Tournament shortened to 54 holes due to weather.''
¹Co-sanctioned by the Asia Golf Circuit Japan Golf Tour playoff record (12–9)

Asia Golf Circuit wins (4)

¹Co-sanctioned by the PGA of Japan Tour Asia Golf Circuit playoff record (1–1)

New Zealand Golf Circuit wins (1)

Other Japan wins (18)

*1971 (5) Japan PGA Championship, Nippon Series, Golf Digest Tournament, Miki Gold Cup (tie with

Billy Casper William Earl Casper Jr. (June 24, 1931 – February 7, 2015) was an American professional golfer. He was one of the most prolific tournament winners on the PGA Tour from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s. In his youth, Casper started as a caddie a ...

), Setouchi Series Hiroshima leg *1972 (9) Wizard Tournament, Sapporo Open, Kanto Open, All Nippon Doubles, Nippon Series, Grand Monarch Tournament, First Flight Tournament, Chiba Open, Asahi International *1976 Chiba Open *1984 Kanagawa Open *1985 Kanagawa Open *1992 Sanko Grand Summer Tournament

Other wins (1)

Results in major championships

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 5 (twice) *Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (three times)

Results in The Players Championship

CUT = missed the halfway cut
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Team appearances

''This list may be incomplete.'' *

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

(representing Japan):

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

Four Tours World Championship The Four Tours World Championship was an annual professional golf tournament that was played from 1985 to 1991. It was played between teams representing the four main professional tours: the American PGA Tour, the PGA European Tour, the PGA Tour o ...

: (representing Japan) 1986 (winners), 1987, 1989 *

(International team):

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ozaki, Masashi Japanese male golfers Japan Golf Tour golfers World Golf Hall of Fame inductees Japanese baseball players Nishitetsu Lions players Baseball people from Tokushima Prefecture 1947 births Living people Presidents Cup competitors for International 20th-century Japanese sportsmen