Naomichi Ozaki

Naomichi Ozaki
尾崎直道
Naomichi Ozaki; 尾崎直道
Personal information
Nickname	Joe
Born	18 May 1956 (age 68); Tokushima Prefecture, Japan
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	76 kg (168 lb; 12.0 st)
Sporting nationality	Japan
Career
Turned professional	1977
Current tour(s)	Champions Tour; Japan PGA Senior Tour
Former tour(s)	PGA Tour; Japan Golf Tour
Professional wins	38
Number of wins by tour
Japan Golf Tour	32 (4th all-time)
Other	6
Best results in major championships;
Masters Tournament	T33: 1990
PGA Championship	T28: 1992
U.S. Open	T25: 1993
The Open Championship	T38: 1998
Achievements and awards
Japan Golf Tour; money list winner
Japan Golf Tour; money list winner	1991, 1999

Naomichi "Joe" Ozaki (尾崎直道, Ozaki Naomichi, ジョー Jō) (born 18 May 1956) is a Japanese professional golfer.

Professional career

Ozaki was born in Tokushima Prefecture, Japan. He turned professional in 1977 and won 32 tournaments on the Japan Golf Tour between 1984 and 2005. He ranks fourth on the list of most Japan Golf Tour wins. He topped the money list in 1991 and 1999. He is fifth on the career money list (through 2014).

Ozaki played 185 times on the PGA Tour from 1984 to 2001, primarily from 1993 to 2001. His best finish was a T-2 at the 1997 Buick Open. His best finish in a major championship was a T-25 at the 1993 U.S. Open.

In 2005, he came in third at the Champions Tour Qualifying Tournament, and he began play on that tour after turning 50 in May 2006. His best finishes are a playoff loss at the 2007 Boeing Classic and a T-2 in the 2010 Regions Charity Classic.

Ozaki played on the International Team in the 1998 Presidents Cup.

Ozaki's older brother, Masashi "Jumbo" Ozaki, topped the Japan Golf Tour money list twelve times, and another brother, Tateo "Jet" Ozaki, is also a professional golfer.

Professional wins (38)

Japan Golf Tour wins (32)

Legend
Flagship events (2)
Japan majors (1)^[a]
Other Japan Golf Tour (30)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	18 Mar 1984	Shizuoka Open	−2 (71-70-75-70=286)	5 strokes	Eitaro Deguchi, Yoshitaka Yamamoto
2	10 Jun 1984	Sapporo Tokyu Open	−8 (71-69-68-72=280)	2 strokes	Isao Aoki
3	26 Aug 1984	KBC Augusta	−13 (71-64-70-70=275)	1 stroke	Kouichi Inoue, Tsuneyuki Nakajima
4	18 Aug 1985	Nikkei Cup	−14 (66-68-68-68=274)	4 strokes	Yoshihisa Iwashita
5	24 May 1986	Pepsi Ube Open	−12 (71-69-68-68=276)	1 stroke	Fujio Kobayashi
6	5 Jul 1987	Kanto Pro Championship	−4 (68-72-72=212)*	1 stroke	Nobumitsu Yuhara
7	12 Jun 1988	Sapporo Tokyu Open (2)	−9 (70-74-64-71=279)	3 strokes	Tateo Ozaki
8	31 Jul 1988	NST Niigata Open	−11 (70-66-69-72=277)	3 strokes	David Ishii
9	18 Sep 1988	ANA Open	−10 (63-69-73-73=278)	Playoff	Brian Jones
10	4 Dec 1988	Golf Nippon Series Hitachi Cup	−13 (69-70-68-68=275)	5 strokes	Isao Aoki
11	26 Mar 1989	Setonaikai Open	−6 (68-74-69-71=282)	2 strokes	Kinpachi Yoshimura
12	13 May 1990	Japan PGA Match-Play Championship Unisys Cup	6 and 5		Brian Jones
13	23 Sep 1990	Gene Sarazen Jun Classic	−11 (68-66-69-70=273)	1 stroke	Yoshinori Kaneko
14	2 Dec 1990	Golf Nippon Series Hitachi Cup (2)	−13 (71-69-64-71=275)	Playoff	Tsuneyuki Nakajima
15	28 Jul 1991	Nikkei Cup (2)	−7 (67-66-70=203)*	Playoff	Eiichi Itai
16	15 Sep 1991	Suntory Open	−12 (67-69-72-68=276)	2 strokes	Chen Tze-chung
17	1 Dec 1991	Casio World Open	−18 (71-67-64-68=270)	2 strokes	Hajime Meshiai
18	8 Dec 1991	Golf Nippon Series Hitachi Cup (3)	−20 (71-65-66-66=268)	8 strokes	Tsuneyuki Nakajima, Nobumitsu Yuhara
19	15 Mar 1992	Imperial Open	−8 (71-68-71-70=280)	3 strokes	Seiki Okuda
20	13 Sep 1992	Suntory Open (2)	−9 (67-72-67-73=279)	2 strokes	Wayne Grady, Tateo Ozaki, Yoshikazu Yokoshima, Nobumitsu Yuhara
21	1 Nov 1992	Lark Cup	−9 (68-68-71-72=279)	1 stroke	Masashi Ozaki
22	14 Aug 1994	Acom International	41 pts (14-2-12-13=41)	6 points	Masayuki Kawamura
23	27 Oct 1996	Philip Morris Championship	−10 (71-70-67-70=278)	4 strokes	Russ Cochran, David Ishii, Masashi Ozaki
24	6 Jul 1997	PGA Philanthropy Tournament	−17 (66-64-68-69=267)	9 strokes	Eiji Mizoguchi, Tsuyoshi Yoneyama
25	13 Jul 1997	Yonex Open Hiroshima	−12 (69-71-68-68=276)	2 strokes	Hiroyuki Fujita
26	18 Apr 1999	Tsuruya Open	−15 (65-70-66-72=273)	2 strokes	Toru Suzuki
27	16 May 1999	Japan PGA Championship	−5 (70-71-73-69=283)	2 strokes	Masashi Ozaki
28	3 Oct 1999	Japan Open Golf Championship	+10 (68-76-76-78=298)	2 strokes	Kazuhiko Hosokawa, Nobumitsu Yuhara
29	15 Oct 2000	Japan Open Golf Championship (2)	−3 (67-72-70-72=281)	1 stroke	Lin Keng-chi
30	26 Oct 2003	Bridgestone Open	−21 (66-69-67-65=267)	Playoff	Paul Sheehan
31	24 Apr 2005	Tsuruya Open (2)	−13 (67-69-67-68=271)	3 strokes	Ryoken Kawagishi, Paul Sheehan
32	1 May 2005	The Crowns	−11 (68-67-67-67=269)	Playoff	Steven Conran

*Note: Tournament shortened to 54 holes due to rain.

Japan Golf Tour playoff record (5–3)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1988	Mitsubishi Galant Tournament	Brian Jones	Lost to birdie on first extra hole
2	1988	ANA Open	Brian Jones	Won with par on third extra hole
3	1989	Gene Sarazen Jun Classic	Tateo Ozaki	Lost to par on second extra hole
4	1990	Golf Nippon Series	Tsuneyuki Nakajima	Won with birdie on third extra hole
5	1991	Nikkei Cup	Eiichi Itai	Won with par on first extra hole
6	2002	Sun Chlorella Classic	Brendan Jones, Christian Peña	Peña won with birdie on first extra hole
7	2003	Bridgestone Open	Paul Sheehan	Won with birdie on second extra hole
8	2005	The Crowns	Steven Conran	Won with par on second extra hole

Other wins (3)

1987 Masaaki Hirao Pro-Am
1989 Daiichi Fudosan Cup, Imperial Open

Japan PGA Senior Tour wins (3)

2012 Starts Senior Tournament, Komatsu Country Club
2014 Japan PGA Senior Championship

Playoff record

Champions Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponents	Result
1	2007	Boeing Classic	R. W. Eaks, David Eger, Gil Morgan, Dana Quigley, Craig Stadler, Denis Watson	Watson won with eagle on second extra hole Eger, Ozaki, Morgan and Quigley eliminated by birdie on first hole

Results in major championships

Tournament	1984	1985	1989	1990	1992	1993	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001
Masters Tournament				T33	CUT	T45						CUT
U.S. Open						T25
The Open Championship	T62	CUT	T46	T39	CUT	CUT			WD	T38	T45	CUT	CUT
PGA Championship			CUT	CUT	T28	T44	T31	CUT	CUT	T44	T70	CUT	CUT

Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = Withdrew
"T" = tied

Results in The Players Championship

Tournament	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001
The Players Championship	T6	T45	T8	CUT	T65	T18	T10	T27	T26

Top 10

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

Results in World Golf Championships

Tournament	1999	2000	2001
Match Play	R64	R32	R32
Championship	T40	T35	NT¹
Invitational	41

¹Cancelled due to 9/11

Did not play

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied
NT = No tournament

Team appearances

This list may be incomplete.

Four Tours World Championship (representing Japan): 1985, 1986 (winners), 1989, 1990
World Cup (representing Japan): 1985
Dunhill Cup (representing Japan): 1986, 1988, 1989, 1996
Presidents Cup (International team): 1998 (winners)
Royal Trophy (Asian team): 2007 (non-playing captain), 2009 (non-playing captain, winners), 2010 (non-playing captain), 2011 (non-playing captain), 2012 (winners, non-playing captain)

Notes

^ The 2000 Japan Open Golf Championship was also a Japan major championship.

External links

Naomichi Ozaki at the Japan Golf Tour official site
Naomichi Ozaki at the PGA Tour official site
Naomichi Ozaki at the Official World Golf Ranking official site

[1] The 2000 Japan Open Golf Championship was also a Japan major championship.

[a]