Ozaki is uneasy in spotlight
Web posted 04/09/99
And when the 52-year-old with Elvis sideburns nudges himself into Masters contention, like he did for much of Thursday after making eagle on the difficult 10th, you realize how much of a force he could be if he had regularly played against the world's best.
He's got the necessary qualities: He's long. He attacks pins.
His putting may be suspect, but whose isn't? Three putts on 17 and 18 -- the final missed 3-footer coming after a 90-minute delay -- dropped Ozaki from a share of the lead to a tie for 12th.
``I don't know if they recognize that I am one of the best,'' Ozaki said through interpreter Dr. Frank Chao.
How can we?
He wins in his backyard, his front yard, his neighbor's yard. But when he faces the world, Ozaki refuses the challenge altogether.
``Maybe if the Masters is played in Japan, Jumbo could win,'' said Katsumasa Miyamoto, one of two Japanese players slogging on the PGA Tour.
``But it is very difficult for him to play well anywhere but Japan.''
It may be the 20-hour flight here. Or that good sashimi is hard to come by outside Tokyo. Or that relaxing with a good night of sumo wrestling can't be found in the States.
Those who rode the Jumbo-tron Thursday, watching with awe as he majestically boomed drives some 30 and 40 yards by playing partners Fred Funk and Fuzzy Zoeller, caught him on a good day.
``Everyone kind of forgets that he's 51 or 52 years old,'' Funk said.
``He doesn't need to come over here and play and justify himself. He's got his career, a good career, and it's a long way to come over here from Japan. The guy doesn't have to do this unless he wants to do it. I think he's a really good player. I think people question his (world) ranking, but that's the ranking's fault, not his.''
If we gauge Ozaki only by what we all see, then what else can he be called? The image doesn't add up to a ranking of 13th in the world.
Ozaki refused an invitation to last year's President's Cup in Melbourne, Australia.
And he refused an invitation to the million-dollar World Match Play Championships at La Costa in February, the only one of the world's top 64 to turn down the guaranteed $25,000 for showing up.
And he refused to participate in last month's Players Championship, the only missing member of the top 50.
Of Ozaki's said 110 titles, one of which came this year, only one has come outside his native Japan, that being a win in New Zealand in 1972.
Playing in 17 Masters, his best finish is a tie for eighth ... in 1973.
``When I get in that atmosphere, I don't get the urge to win as strongly,'' he has said about his play outside Japan.
Ozaki's been accused of cheating, most recently by Greg Norman, though he won't address questions of the sort.
Ozaki does not allow you inside his mind. He knows more English than he lets on. He brushes over the alleged reports of mafia ties.
Asked Thursday for reasons why he declined his invitations to prove his world stature, Ozaki mumbles something in Japanese that makes the 18 Japanese reporters surrounding him laugh. And the interpreter, embarrassed, asks to move on to the next question.
So how seriously should we treat Ozaki's current position?
``Almost invisible, but the possibility of winning is there,'' he said.
