Takeo “Jet” Ozaki and Naomichi “Joe” Ozaki are looking ahead at the lonelier years ahead as they navigate life without their elder brother, Masashi ‘Jumbo’ Ozaki. Yet, they are extremely grateful for the path ‘Jumbo’ charted for them.

Mourning his brother’s passing, Jet, who won 15 times on the Japanese Tour, emotionally said, “I think that most brothers go their separate ways, but my brothers and I happened to be in the same profession and were able to stay together for about 70 years. I have never experienced life without my brother, so I think the years ahead will be lonelier and more difficult than ever. You have always been with me and taught me everything. Thank you, big brother!”

The youngest Ozaki brother, Naomichi, or Joe, is also extremely grateful to his eldest brother.

“Rather than professional golfer Jumbo Ozaki, I am reminded of my older brother from Tokushima. He won the high school baseball championship, became a professional baseball player, and rebuilt the Ozaki family home,” Joe recalled. “I don’t think I could have become a professional golfer, Naomichi Ozaki, without my older brother giving up baseball to pursue golf and teaching me the sport of golf, and I am so grateful to him for that. Thank you, big brother!”

Joe won thirty-two titles during his long career and famously led the 1999 Japan Pro, ending Jumbo’s five-year money title streak, where the three brothers finished first, second, and third.

Masashi got his name ‘Jumbo’ for the massive length of his tee. He passed away at 78 after battling colorectal cancer for about one year. Before switching to golf, he was an ace pitcher for Tokushima Kainan High School. He won the National Spring Invitational Championship title before signing with the Nishitetsu Lions (now the Saitama Seibu Lions of NPB) in 1965. Ozaki transitioned to golf when he was 23, and it became a success story, waiting to be told.

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The incredible journey of Masashi ‘Jumbo’ Ozaki

Ozaki picked up the golf club in 1970 and immediately began to dominate the field. He was known for his colorful attire, featuring baggy pants and roomy shirts. Ozaki popularized the game to new heights in Japan and Asia. He was also a singer and guitarist who had three singles that topped Japan’s charts in the late 1980s.

‘Jumbo’ won a record ninety-four times on the Japan Golf Tour, which is forty-three more than his closest rival, Isao Aoki, who was also a World Golf Hall of Famer. In total, he won 113 worldwide victories and remained inside the top ten of the world rankings for 200 consecutive weeks in 1996, achieving a career-best 5th rank at the age of 49.

Jumbo led the tour’s money list a record twelve times, including winning five money titles in a row from 1994 to 1998. Jumbo finished T8 at the 1973 Masters, a T6 at the 1989 U.S. Open, and a T10 at the 1979 Open Championship, and in the 1996 Presidents Cup, he bested Fred Couples and Davis Love III, pairing with Vijay Singh.

But despite his massive success at home, the giant golfer had one big regret. He wished he had spent more time playing in major tournaments outside of Japan. When he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2011 by receiving 50% of the vote on the international ballot, Ozaki said, “But I dedicated my life to Japanese golf and am extremely grateful the voters thought I was worthy of this honor.”

Modern stars like Hideki Matsuyama, who was the first to win a major at the 2021 Masters, and Ryo Ishikawa grew up wanting to be just like him. And it wasn’t an exaggeration when Brian Watts, who won 12 times on the Japan Golf Tour, once told a former Golfweek senior writer, Jeff Rude, that Jumbo was bigger than Palmer and Nicklaus combined in Japan.