Augusta, GA
Masashi ‘Jumbo’ Ozaki, Japan’s winningest player, dies of cancer at 78
Masashi “Jumbo” Ozaki, whose 113 worldwide victories were the most of any player from Japan, died Wednesday in his home country after a battle with colon cancer, the Japan Golf Tour said. He was 78.
Ozaki was revered in Japan, a big hitter with a sense of style who won 94 times over 29 years on the Japan Golf Tour, the last one coming at the 2002 ANA Open when he was 55.
He rose to No. 5 in the world ranking in 1996 at age 49. Ozaki often got overlooked for never winning outside Japan except for the New Zealand PGA Championship. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2011.
“He is an indispensable, one-of-a-kind figure in discussing men’s golf, both now and in the future,” the tour said in a social media post.
Ozaki competed in 49 majors, his best finish coming in the 1989 U.S. Open at Oak Hill when he finished three shots behind Curtis Strange. He played the Masters for the 19th and final time in 2000 when he was 53 and tied for 28th.
Isao Aoki was the first Japanese player in the World Golf Hall of Fame, and Hideki Matsuyama became the first to win a major at the 2021 Masters. Both were inspired in some fashion by Ozaki, the pioneer in a nation now obsessed with golf.
Ozaki won the Japan Open five times and the Japan PGA Championship six times. He led the Japan Golf Tour money list a record 12 times, including five in a row from 1994 through 1998. He won his final money title in 2002, when he was 55.
When he was inducted into the Hall of Fame, Ozaki said his one regret was not playing more outside of Japan.
“But I dedicated my life to Japanese golf and am extremely grateful the voters thought I was worthy of this honor,” he said upon his election. He received 50% of the vote on the International ballot.
Ozaki was looked upon as the Arnold Palmer of golf in Japan with his powerful swing, charisma and sense of style, often wearing silk shirts and baggy pants. And his skill was not limited to just golf. He played the guitar and had three songs reach the pop charts in Japan, according to the Hall of Fame.
His first love was baseball, and he spent three years pitching professionally before turning to golf. That was evident when Ryo Ishikawa, who won his first Japan Golf Tour title at age 15, spoke of Ozaki’s influence. Ishikawa said he would visit Ozaki about 10 times a year to get advice.
“Jumbo used to be a baseball player, so he always tried to teach me the link from pitching or hitting to golf,” Ishikawa said in 2010 interview with The Associated Press. “Jumbo wanted me to hit the ball far.”
Ozaki traveled with an entourage when he did play outside Japan in the majors, usually renting a house and brining a sushi chef so his people would feel at home.
He has two younger brothers who also played on tour, Naomichi (Joe) and Tateo (Jet).
Ozaki played in 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 against the trip to Australia, and his brother Joe played instead.
An Augusta city committee on Tuesday is scheduled to hear an update from the Recreation and Parks Department about nine municipal parks that are so seldom used that they might not be worth keeping open.
A civil engineering firm partnering with Recreation and Parks spent months gathering information on Augusta-Richmond County’s 51 public parks.
The audit by Infrastructure System Management scored the locations using a rubric that measured the sizes of the parks and how close they are to other parks. The audit also counted the number of park visitors to calculate how often the parks were used.
In a previous presentation to the committee last fall, commissioners learned that it would cost about $22 million to bring all city parks up to proper maintenance standards for just the first year.
By comparison, the Recreation and Parks budget is closer to $1.2 million, according to Abie Ladson Jr., a former city engineering director who now directs the ISM consultancy.
The smallest of the nine parks, Alexander Barrett Park, is barely a 10th of an acre, about the size of an NBA basketball court. The wedge-shaped lot where Wheeler Road meets Royal Street is composed of open grass and two playground swings built only for infants and toddlers.
The largest of the nine is the 3.49-acre W.T. Johnson Center on Hunter Street, behind Beulah Grove Baptist Church. Its facilities include a gymnasium and athletic fields.
The parks whose futures will be considered:
- A.L. Williams Park, 1850 Broad St.
- Alexander Barrett Park, 2629 Royal St.
- Bedford Heights Park, 1016 Camellia Dr.
- Doughty Park, 1200 Nellieville Rd.
- Elliott Park, 2027 Lumpkin Rd.
- Heard Avenue Park, 1500 Heard Ave.
- Hillside Park (Vernon Forrest Park), 2101 Telfair St.
- Valley Park, 1805 Valley Park Dr. E.
- W.T. Johnson Center, 1606 Hunter St.
Augusta, GA
Augusta Athletics to Host ‘Sweet Sendoff’ for Women’s Basketball Heading to the NCAA Tournament – Augusta University
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Augusta University Athletics will host a Sweet Sendoff for the Jaguars women’s basketball team on Wednesday, March 11 at 12:30 p.m. at Christenberry Fieldhouse as the team prepares to depart for the NCAA Tournament.
Fans, students, faculty and staff are invited to stop by Christenberry Fieldhouse to help send off the 2026 Peach Belt Conference Tournament Champion Jaguars before they leave for NCAA Regional play. Cookies, brownies and other sweet treats will be available as the Augusta community gathers to celebrate the team’s championship and wish them well on their postseason run.
Following the brief gathering, the team will walk out to the bus as they depart for the NCAA Tournament.
Augusta captured the Peach Belt Conference Tournament title on Sunday to earn the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, marking the program’s first conference tournament championship in 33 years.
The Sweet Sendoff is free and open to the public.
Sweet Sendoff
Wednesday, March 11
12:30 p.m.
Christenberry Fieldhouse
3109 Wrightsboro Road, Augusta, Ga 30912
Fans can follow Augusta women’s basketball throughout the NCAA Tournament at augustajags.com
Augusta, Ga. – Nolan Turner had two hits, a homer, and scored twice to lead Augusta, but it was Lander picking up the win 19-4 over Augusta in the series finale on Sunday at Jaguar field. Augusta is now 12-10 overall and 8-4 in the Peach Belt Conference. The Bearcats are 14-8 overall and 8-4 in conference play.
AU got on the board in the opening inning as Turner scored on a wild pitch. But Lander would respond four runs in the second on a grand slam home run.
In the bottom of the second, the Jaguars would plate a pair of runs. Davis Newman singled home Harris Bachelder and Nathan Martin would come up with a sacrifice fly that scored Roland Chance.
The Bearcats would blow it open by scoring 10 runs in the third inning.
Turner would deliver a solo homer in the third for the last Augusta run.
Augusta collected eight hits on the day with Turner being the only player with more than one.
The Jaguars will next be on the field when they travel to Cochran, Ga. to take on Middle Georgia in a three game series. The opener is Friday at 6 p.m.
Fans of Jaguar Athletics can subscribe to the email listserve by clicking here. Fans can follow Augusta University at www.augustajags.com and receive short updates on Facebook at Augusta University Athletics and on Twitter at @AugustaJags.
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