Japan’s most profitable skilled golfer, Masashi ‘Jumbo’ Ozaki, has died on the age of 78.

Nicknamed Jumbo due to his size off the tee, Ozaki gained 94 instances on the Japan Tour and topped the nation’s order of benefit 12 instances.

He was within the prime 10 of golf’s rankings for practically 200 weeks and was inducted into the World Golf Corridor of Fame in 2011.

“Whereas golf has lengthy been standard in Japan, it was Ozaki who introduced a brand new vitality to the sport and his emergence spawned an unprecedented progress within the recreation within the nation,” stated his profile on the World Golf Corridor of Fame web site., exterior

Ozaki was an expert baseball participant earlier than switching to golf and successful his first event in 1973 on the age of 26, together with his final coming when he was 55.

He had prime 10 finishes at The Open, Masters and US Open and used to take a sushi chef with him when he performed away from Japan “in order that he and his entourage would really feel extra at dwelling outdoors of their homeland”.

Ozaki additionally ventured into singing and had three singles within the Japanese charts within the late Nineteen Eighties.

An announcement on the Japan Golf Tour Organisation (JGTO) web site stated Ozaki’s son Tomoharu had introduced his father had handed away after being identified with colon most cancers a few yr in the past.

“The golf world has misplaced a really nice man,” stated JGTO chairman Yutaka Morohoshi., exterior

“He lengthy steered the lads’s skilled golf world and overwhelmed others together with his unparalleled power.”