When people speak of \u201cAON\u201d in the world of Japanese men\u2019s professional golf, they\u2019re invoking a legendary trio of fairway titans\u2014Isao Aoki, Masashi \u201cJumbo\u201d Ozaki and Tsuneyuki \u201cTommy\u201d Nakajima.<\/p>\n
Nakajima, the youngest of the Big Three, once described his lifelong rivals like this: \u201cAoki-san has the sharpness of a Japanese sword. Jumbo is like a blade wielded by the Greeks or Romans\u2014his power feels limitless. He doesn\u2019t just cut; he strikes, he pierces. He can do it all.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sound of Jumbo\u2019s thunderous drives still echoes in memory. At the 1989 Open Championship, on the 364-yard opening hole, his colossal tee shot soared past the green\u2014an audacious feat that stunned the gallery and set the tone for his larger-than-life presence.<\/p>\n
Now comes the news of the passing of that beloved and storied dynamo. He was 78.<\/p>\n
Standing 181 centimeters tall and blessed with a formidable physique, Ozaki was more than just naturally gifted. He was a \u201crenshu no oni,\u201d a \u201ctraining demon,\u201d who practiced with relentless intensity and a laser focus.<\/p>\n
\u201cA certain swing came to me in a dream. Let\u2019s go practice,\u201d he once said, waking in the middle of the night to swing his clubs.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t a one-time occurrence. This episode, among many others, is recounted in \u201cDaremo Kakenakatta Jumbo Ozaki\u201d (The Jumbo Ozaki no one could write about) by his disciple Yoshinori Kaneko, a member of the famed \u201cJumbo Army\u201d\u2014the loyal band of golfers who rallied around their charismatic leader.<\/p>\n
Ozaki lived by a simple credo: A professional must win, no matter what.<\/p>\n
To him, entertaining the fans was part of the job, even if it meant talking big and making bold, swaggering claims on live broadcasts. What some mistook for arrogance was, in truth, a philosophy of performance. As Aoki once said, the real Jumbo was \u201ca shy man.\u201d<\/p>\n
With 94 victories on the Japan Golf Tour and 12 leading money winner titles, his records shine with immortal brilliance. Yet, one comment, made at age 66, lingers just as vividly.<\/p>\n
After shooting a round lower than his age\u2014a rare feat known as an \u201cage shoot\u201d\u2014he said,\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m not aiming for age shoots. I\u2019m doing this to win on this tour.\u201d<\/p>\n
To the very end, Ozaki remained a rare and peerless \u201cshobushi,\u201d\u00a0a big-game player who thrived under pressure; lived for the win-or-lose showdown; and embodied the nerve, instinct and showmanship of a true professional.<\/p>\n
\u2014The Asahi Shimbun, Dec. 26<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When people speak of \u201cAON\u201d in the world of Japanese men\u2019s professional golf, they\u2019re invoking a legendary trio…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":372345,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[78971,64,63,755,941,44,1721,85,201370],"class_list":{"0":"post-372344","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-asahi-shimbun","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-golf","12":"tag-japan","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-opinion","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-vox-populi"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=372344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372344\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/372345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=372344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=372344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=372344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}