Masashi Ozaki (尾崎 将司, Ozaki Masashi, born (尾崎 正司) 24 January 1947) is a Japanese professional golfer. 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 for almost 200 weeks between 1989 and 1998.[2] He is the most successful player of all time on the Japan Golf Tour, 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 in 2011.[3]

Masashi Ozaki
尾崎 将司
Personal information
NicknameJumbo
Born (1947-01-24) 24 January 1947 (age 77)
Kaifu District, Tokushima, Japan
Height1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight90 kg (198 lb; 14 st 2 lb)
Sporting nationality Japan
Career
Turned professional1970
Former tour(s)Japan Golf Tour
Professional wins114
Highest ranking5 (1 September 1996)[1]
Number of wins by tour
Japan Golf Tour94 (1st all-time)
Other20
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentT8: 1973
PGA ChampionshipT47: 1994
U.S. OpenT6: 1989
The Open ChampionshipT10: 1979
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame2011 (member page)
PGA of Japan Tour
money list winner
1973, 1974, 1977,
1988, 1989, 1990,
1992, 1994, 1995,
1996, 1997, 1998

Early life

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Ozaki was born in Kaifu District, Tokushima.

Professional career

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Ozaki was a professional baseball pitcher/outfielder from 1965 to 1967 with the Nishitetsu Lions.[4][5][6][7] However, he turned to professional golf at the age of 23 and won the Japan PGA Championship the following year.

Ozaki led the Japan Golf Tour in earnings in 1973–74, 1977, 1988–90, 1992, and 1994–98. Ozaki finished 8th at The Masters in 1973 and finished 6th at the U.S. Open in 1989. He competed at the Masters 19 times. He played occasionally on the PGA Tour 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.[8][9] Ozaki played on the International Team in the 1996 Presidents Cup. Ozaki built "AON Age" with his rivals Isao Aoki and Tsuneyuki "Tommy" Nakajima.

As late as 2019, he still played occasionally on the Japan Golf Tour.

Personal life

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

Professional wins (114)

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Japan Golf Tour wins (94)

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Legend
Flagship events (2)
Other Japan Golf Tour (92)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 13 May 1973 Kanto Pro Championship −9 (69-68-72-70=279)
2 8 Jul 1973 ANA Sapporo Open −5 (72-70-74-67=283) 2 strokes   Hsieh Min-Nan
3 5 Aug 1973 Tohoku Classic −15 (65-68-67-73=273) 3 strokes   Lu Liang-Huan
4 14 Oct 1973 Taiheiyo Club Masters −6 (71-67-71-69=278) Playoff   Bert Yancey
5 28 Oct 1973 Tokai Classic −11 (71-65-69-72=277) 1 stroke   Isao Aoki
6 23 Jun 1974 Tohoku Classic (2) −8 (71-70-71-68=280) 3 strokes   Haruo Yasuda
7 7 Jul 1974 ANA Sapporo Open (2) −6 (72-73-71-66=282) Playoff   Isao Aoki
8 18 Aug 1974 Japan PGA Championship −14 (67-68-66-73=274) 4 strokes   Isao Aoki
9 8 Sep 1974 Suntory Open −16 (66-69-66-71=272) 3 strokes   Kosaku Shimada
10 29 Sep 1974 Japan Open Golf Championship −13 (69-69-68-73=279) 1 stroke   Takashi Murakami
11 17 Nov 1974 Golf Nippon Series −10 (73-69-70-68=280) 4 strokes   Takashi Murakami
12 8 Jun 1975 Tohoku Classic (3) −10 (70-69-67-72=278) 1 stroke   Isao Aoki
13 11 Jul 1976 Kanto Open −6 (69-68-76-69=282) 1 stroke   Takashi Murakami
14 5 Sep 1976 Hiroshima Open −13 (66-66-68=200)* 1 stroke   Teruo Sugihara
15 19 Sep 1976 Sanpo Classic −16 (72-63-65-72=272) 1 stroke   Lu Liang-Huan
16 29 May 1977 Pepsi-Wilson Tournament −14 (69-67-72-66=274) 4 strokes   Kuo Chie-Hsiung
17 24 Jul 1977 Kanto Open (2) −11 (73-71-67-66=277) 4 strokes   Toshiharu Kawada,   Takashi Murakami
18 16 Oct 1977 Tokai Classic (2) −10 (67-69-70-72=278) 1 stroke   Kosaku Shimada
19 4 Dec 1977 Golf Nippon Series (2) −15 (74-66-68-67=275) 4 strokes   Isao Aoki
20 21 May 1978 Pepsi-Wilson Tournament (2) −13 (67-74-65-69=275) 5 strokes   Kosaku Shimada
21 24 Sep 1978 Hiroshima Open (2) −15 (69-66-67-71=273) Playoff   Hideyo Sugimoto
22 27 Apr 1980 Dunlop International Open1 −11 (68-70-69-70=277) 5 strokes   Ho Ming-chung,   Graham Marsh
23 11 May 1980 Fujisankei Classic −5 (72-67-71-73=283) 1 stroke   Graham Marsh,   Takahiro Takeyasu
24 7 Dec 1980 Golf Nippon Series (3) −7 (72-72-71-68=283) 2 strokes   Isao Aoki
25 5 Sep 1982 Kanto Open (3) +2 (73-72-73-72=290) 1 stroke   Yutaka Hagawa
26 30 Oct 1983 Gene Sarazen Jun Classic E (72-69-72-75=288) Playoff   Masahiro Kuramoto
27 28 Oct 1984 Hiroshima Open (3) −15 (65-67-69-68=269) 3 strokes   Masaji Kusakabe
28 11 May 1986 Fujisankei Classic (2) −5 (65-72-71-71=279) 1 stroke   David Ishii
29 17 Aug 1986 Nikkei Cup −20 (68-66-68-66=268) 4 strokes   Ikuo Shirahama
30 24 Aug 1986 Maruman Open −12 (64-72-70-70=276) 3 strokes   Saburo Fujiki,   Naomichi Ozaki
31 28 Sep 1986 Gene Sarazen Jun Classic (2) −9 (69-72-68-70=279) 1 stroke   Masahiro Kuramoto
32 3 May 1987 The Crowns −12 (69-67-66-66=268) 6 strokes   Isao Aoki,   Ian Baker-Finch,
  Masahiro Kuramoto,   Yoshitaka Yamamoto
33 10 May 1987 Fujisankei Classic (3) −9 (68-72-66-69=275) 2 strokes   Graham Marsh
34 27 Sep 1987 Gene Sarazen Jun Classic (3) −12 (68-69-67=204)* 5 strokes   Namio Takasu
35 24 Apr 1988 Dunlop Open1 (2) −10 (69-70-69-70=278) 3 strokes   David Ishii
36 14 Aug 1988 Nikkei Cup (2) −5 (72-71-72-68=283) 4 strokes   Naomichi Ozaki
37 21 Aug 1988 Maruman Open (2) −6 (73-65-69=207)* 3 strokes   Hajime Meshiai,   Yoshimi Niizeki
38 9 Oct 1988 Japan Open Golf Championship (2) +4 (67-73-75-73=288) 1 stroke   Isao Aoki,   Tsuneyuki Nakajima
39 16 Oct 1988 Polaroid Cup Golf Digest Tournament −12 (69-72-69-62=272) Playoff   Brian Jones
40 23 Oct 1988 Bridgestone Open −15 (72-64-68-69=273) 2 strokes   Isao Aoki
41 7 May 1989 Fujisankei Classic (4) −2 (68-68-70-76=282) 2 strokes   Katsunari Takahashi
42 14 May 1989 Japan PGA Match-Play Championship Unisys Cup 3 and 2   Hiroshi Makino
43 4 Jun 1989 Sendai Classic (4) −12 (70-65-71-66=272) 3 strokes   Tsuneyuki Nakajima,   Katsunari Takahashi
44 9 Jul 1989 Yonex Open Hiroshima (4) −18 (69-67-68-66=270) 6 strokes   Seiji Ebihara,   Seiichi Kanai,
  Nobuo Serizawa
45 6 Aug 1989 Japan PGA Championship (2) −6 (68-68-71-71=278) 1 stroke   Hideki Kase
46 17 Sep 1989 ANA Open (3) −8 (71-70-68-71=280) 6 strokes   Ian Woosnam
47 8 Oct 1989 Japan Open Golf Championship (3) −6 (66-68-67-73=274) 3 strokes   Brian Jones
48 6 May 1990 Fujisankei Classic (5) −5 (67-77-64=208)* 1 stroke   Saburo Fujiki,   Masanobu Kimura,
  Tōru Nakamura,   Naomichi Ozaki,
  Yoshitaka Yamamoto
49 8 Jul 1990 Yonex Open Hiroshima (5) −10 (69-73-71-65=278) 1 stroke   Tsuneyuki Nakajima
50 19 Aug 1990 Maruman Open (2) −15 (69-70-66-68=273) 5 strokes   Tsuneyuki Nakajima
51 26 Aug 1990 Daiwa KBC Augusta −19 (65-66-68-70=269) 10 strokes   Chen Tze-chung
52 18 Aug 1991 Japan PGA Championship (3) −15 (71-73-68-61=273) 6 strokes   Tsukasa Watanabe
53 29 Sep 1991 Gene Sarazen Jun Classic (4) −11 (69-68-70-70=277) Playoff   Ryoken Kawagishi
54 26 Apr 1992 Dunlop Open1 (3) −2 (69-76-72-69=286) Playoff   Brent Franklin
55 3 May 1992 The Crowns (2) −10 (68-69-66-67=270) 4 strokes   Brent Franklin,   Peter Senior
56 5 Jul 1992 PGA Philanthropy Tournament −14 (69-64-70-67=270) 3 strokes   Saburo Fujiki
57 20 Sep 1992 ANA Open (4) −8 (70-69-69-72=280) 4 strokes   Ryoken Kawagishi
58 11 Oct 1992 Japan Open Golf Championship (4) −11 (64-73-71-69=277) 5 strokes   Brent Franklin,   Masahiro Kuramoto
59 15 Nov 1992 Visa Taiheiyo Club Masters (2) −12 (74-66-66-70=276) 1 stroke   Masahiro Kuramoto,   Bernhard Langer,
  Tsukasa Watanabe
60 9 May 1993 Fujisankei Classic (6) −14 (67-67-68-68=270) 4 strokes   Todd Hamilton,   Tsukasa Watanabe
61 16 May 1993 Japan PGA Championship (4) −10 (68-73-67-70=278) 1 stroke   Tsuyoshi Yoneyama
62 17 Oct 1993 Asahi Beer Golf Digest Tournament (2) −16 (68-67-66-67=268) 2 strokes   Tsuneyuki Nakajima
63 24 Apr 1994 Dunlop Open1 (4) −14 (67-68-70-69=274) 1 stroke   Hsieh Chin-sheng
64 10 Jul 1994 Yonex Open Hiroshima (6) −14 (68-74-67-65=274) 3 strokes   Nobuo Serizawa
65 18 Sep 1994 ANA Open (5) −20 (68-68-63-69=268) 9 strokes   Kiyoshi Murota
66 2 Oct 1994 Japan Open Golf Championship (5) −18 (68-66-69-67=270) 13 strokes   David Ishii,   Hideki Kase
67 6 Nov 1994 Daiwa International −18 (65-72-70-63=270) 15 strokes   Fuzzy Zoeller
68 13 Nov 1994 Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters (3) −18 (66-69-68-67=270) 5 strokes   Bob Estes
69 20 Nov 1994 Dunlop Phoenix Tournament −15 (67-69-65=201)* 1 stroke   Tom Watson
70 30 Apr 1995 The Crowns (3) −20 (66-64-63-67=260) 5 strokes   Nobuo Serizawa
71 9 Jul 1995 Yonex Open Hiroshima (7) −9 (73-68-66=207)* 1 stroke   Satoshi Higashi
72 17 Sep 1995 ANA Open (6) −9 (70-72-69-68=279) 3 strokes   Ernie Els
73 19 Nov 1995 Dunlop Phoenix Tournament (2) −11 (65-71-69-68=273) 1 stroke   Robert Gamez,   Brandt Jobe,
  Peter Senior
74 3 Dec 1995 Golf Nippon Series Hitachi Cup (4) −16 (66-67-71-68=272) 2 strokes   Shigenori Mori,   Tsuneyuki Nakajima
75 28 Apr 1996 The Crowns (4) −12 (64-68-69-67=268) 4 strokes   Katsuyoshi Tomori
76 12 May 1996 Japan PGA Championship (5) −18 (68-66-67-69=270) 8 strokes   Shigeki Maruyama
77 26 May 1996 Mitsubishi Galant Tournament −9 (72-70-73-64=279) Playoff   Todd Hamilton
78 2 Jun 1996 JCB Classic Sendai (5) −7 (69-69-67-72=277) Playoff   David Ishii
79 25 Aug 1996 Hisamitsu-KBC Augusta (2) −15 (64-70-70-69=273) Playoff   Taichi Teshima
80 22 Sep 1996 Gene Sarazen Jun Classic (5) −19 (68-64-65=197)* 6 strokes   Takaaki Fukuzawa
81 17 Nov 1996 Dunlop Phoenix Tournament (3) −7 (68-67-69-73=277) 3 strokes   Naomichi Ozaki,   Tom Watson
82 1 Dec 1996 Golf Nippon Series Hitachi Cup (5) −26 (62-68-65-67=262) 4 strokes   Shigeki Maruyama
83 16 Mar 1997 Token Corporation Cup −19 (71-65-61-72=269) 1 stroke   Carlos Franco
84 4 May 1997 The Crowns (5) −13 (67-67-66-67=267) 2 strokes   Brian Watts
85 1 Jun 1997 Mitsubishi Galant Tournament (2) −10 (70-70-70-68=278) 2 strokes   Satoshi Higashi,   Kōki Idoki,
  Tōru Nakamura
86 31 Aug 1997 Hisamitsu-KBC Augusta (3) −22 (65-67-67-67=266) 12 strokes   Takaaki Fukuzawa,   Taichi Teshima
87 26 Oct 1997 Bridgestone Open (2) −15 (66-70-71-66=273) 1 stroke   Shigeki Maruyama,   Tateo Ozaki
88 12 Jul 1998 Yonex Open Hiroshima (8) −18 (68-70-66-66=270) 1 stroke   Peter McWhinney
89 30 Aug 1998 Hisamitsu-KBC Augusta (4) −13 (66-72-65-72=275) 4 strokes   Katsunori Kuwabara
90 1 Nov 1998 Philip Morris Championship −13 (75-68-68-64=275) 1 stroke   Mitsuo Harada,   Carlos Franco
91 14 Mar 1999 Token Corporation Cup (2) −15 (72-65-69-67=273) 1 stroke   Toru Taniguchi
92 11 Jul 1999 Yonex Open Hiroshima (9) −15 (73-69-67-64=273) Playoff   Shigemasa Higaki
93 6 Aug 2000 Sun Chlorella Classic −12 (74-68-66-68=276) Playoff   Shoichi Yamamoto
94 22 Sep 2002 ANA Open (7) −17 (67-66-69-69=271) 1 stroke   Hiroyuki Fujita

*Note: Tournament shortened to 54 holes due to weather.
1Co-sanctioned by the Asia Golf Circuit

Japan Golf Tour playoff record (12–9)

No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 1973 Taiheiyo Club Masters   Bert Yancey Won three-hole aggregate playoff;
Ozaki: −1 (3-3-4=10),
Yancey: +2 (4-5-4=13)
2 1974 ANA Sapporo Open   Isao Aoki Won with birdie on first extra hole
3 1978 Hiroshima Open   Hideyo Sugimoto Won with par on second extra hole
4 1979 Yomiuri Open   Teruo Sugihara Lost to birdie on second extra hole
5 1980 Toshiba Taiheiyo Masters   Norio Suzuki Lost after concession on first extra hole
6 1983 Acom Doubles
(with   Hajime Meshiai)
  Lu Hsi-chuen and   Lu Liang-Huan Lost to birdie on third extra hole
7 1983 Kanto Open   Kikuo Arai,   Saburo Fujiki Fujiki won with par on third extra hole
Arai eliminated by par on first hole
8 1983 Gene Sarazen Jun Classic   Masahiro Kuramoto Won with par on first extra hole
9 1988 Polaroid Cup Golf Digest Tournament   Brian Jones Won with birdie on first extra hole
10 1991 Gene Sarazen Jun Classic   Ryoken Kawagishi Won with par on first extra hole
11 1992 Dunlop Open   Brent Franklin Won with birdie on first extra hole
12 1992 Gene Sarazen Jun Classic   Chen Tze-chung Lost to par on third extra hole
13 1996 Mitsubishi Galant Tournament   Todd Hamilton Won with par on first extra hole
14 1996 JCB Classic Sendai   David Ishii Won with par on first extra hole
15 1996 Hisamitsu-KBC Augusta   Taichi Teshima Won with par on second extra hole
16 1998 Japan PGA Championship   Brandt Jobe Lost to par on first extra hole
17 1998 Golf Nippon Series JT Cup   Katsumasa Miyamoto Lost to birdie on fourth extra hole
18 1999 Yonex Open Hiroshima   Shigemasa Higaki Won with birdie on first extra hole
19 2000 Sun Chlorella Classic   Shoichi Yamamoto Won with birdie on first extra hole
20 2001 Juken Sangyo Open Hiroshima   Keiichiro Fukabori Lost to par on first extra hole
21 2003 Acom International   Masahiro Kuramoto,   Katsumasa Miyamoto Kuramoto won with birdie on first extra hole

Asia Golf Circuit wins (4)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 27 Apr 1980 Dunlop International Open1 −11 (68-70-69-70=277) 5 strokes   Ho Ming-chung,   Graham Marsh
2 24 Apr 1988 Dunlop Open1 (2) −10 (69-70-69-70=278) 3 strokes   David Ishii
3 26 Apr 1992 Dunlop Open1 (3) −2 (69-76-72-69=286) Playoff   Brent Franklin
4 24 Apr 1994 Dunlop Open1 (4) −14 (67-68-70-69=274) 1 stroke   Hsieh Chin-sheng

1Co-sanctioned by the PGA of Japan Tour

Asia Golf Circuit playoff record (1–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 1973 Sobu International Open   Shigeru Uchida Lost to eagle on third extra hole
2 1992 Dunlop Open   Brent Franklin Won with birdie on first extra hole

New Zealand Golf Circuit wins (1)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runners-up
1 8 Jan 1972 New Zealand PGA Championship −15 (68-65-69-67=269) 7 strokes   Bob Charles,   Takashi Murakami

Other Japan wins (18)

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Other wins (1)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner-up
1 11 Feb 1990 Nissan Super Skins $370,000 $110,000   Greg Norman

Results in major championships

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Tournament 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
Masters Tournament CUT T8 CUT T43 T33 CUT CUT
U.S. Open
The Open Championship T14 T10
PGA Championship
Tournament 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
Masters Tournament CUT T18
U.S. Open T17 CUT T6
The Open Championship T60 T35 T11 T30
PGA Championship CUT
Tournament 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Masters Tournament 23 T35 T45 CUT T29 CUT 42 CUT CUT T28
U.S. Open T24 CUT T23 T33 T28 T28 T67 CUT CUT CUT
The Open Championship CUT CUT T38 CUT
PGA Championship T69 T47 T49 CUT CUT 78
  Top 10
  Did not play

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

Summary

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Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 0 0 0 1 3 19 10
U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 1 4 13 8
The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 1 3 10 7
PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 4
Totals 0 0 0 0 3 10 49 29
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 5 (twice)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (three times)

Results in The Players Championship

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Tournament 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998
The Players Championship T45 CUT T27 WD 82 T29 T29 T50 CUT
  Did not play

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

Team appearances

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This list may be incomplete.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Week 35 1996 Ending 1 Sep 1996" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  2. ^ 69 Players Who Have Reached The Top-10 In World Ranking
  3. ^ "Ozaki joins 2011 class of World Golf Hall of Fame". PGA Tour. 6 October 2010. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  4. ^ Masashi Ozaki career baseball stats
  5. ^ 1965 Pacific League stats
  6. ^ 1966 Pacific League stats
  7. ^ 1967 Pacific League stats
  8. ^ Sal Johnson and Dave Seanor, ed. (2009). The USA Today Golfers Encyclopedia. New York, New York: Skyhorse Publishing. pp. 417–418. ISBN 978-1-60239-302-8.
  9. ^ "Masashi Jumbo Ozaki". PGA Tour.
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