Overview
- He died Tuesday in Japan, according to his son, who said the stage 4 cancer diagnosis came about a year ago and was managed at home.
- He holds a record 94 Japan Golf Tour victories and 12 season money titles, with his final win coming at age 55 in 2002.
- He climbed to No. 5 in the Official World Golf Ranking in 1996 and played 49 majors, highlighted by T-8 at the 1973 Masters and T-6 at the 1989 U.S. Open.
- He largely concentrated his career in Japan, with his only notable win abroad coming at the New Zealand PGA in the 1970s.
- Tributes from the Japan Golf Tour and peers praised his go-for-broke style and outsized influence on the sport’s growth in Japan and on future generations.