Less than six months after he sat stunned as Arnold Palmer revealed he had prostate cancer, two-time Senior PGA Tour Player of the Year Jim Colbert had successful surgery yesterday on his cancerous prostate.
Colbert, 56, was operated on at Scripps Hospital in La Jolla, Calif., said PGA Tour spokesman David Lancer.
``Everything went well and the cancer appears to be localized,'' said Lancer, who spoke with Colbert's office.
Lancer said there is no timetable for Colbert's return to competition.
``But when Arnold Palmer had similar surgery he was told to rest for 42 days and that's exactly how long he rested,'' Lancer said.
Colbert was at the PGA Tour awards dinner in Carlsbad, Calif., to receive his second consecutive Player of the Year award when Palmer found out he had prostate cancer.
Colbert has won 18 senior events since 1991, including four in 1995 and five last year.
He has yet to win this year, but was eighth on the money list with $468,842 in winnings.
Colbert flew to California for surgery after finishing 17th Sunday in the Nationwide Championship at Alpharetta, Ga.
Palmer had surgery for prostate cancer at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota in January and has since returned to play in several senior and regular tour events.
He has become a spokesman in the fight against prostate cancer, encouraging men to have frequent testing.
RANKINGS: ELS NOW NO. 1 Ernie Els ended Tiger Woods's brief tenure at the top of the world rankings after following up his U.S. Open title with a victory at the Buick Classic.
He is the first South African to be ranked world No. 1 and the 10th player in all since the rankings began in 1986.
Woods had last week passed Greg Norman to become the youngest-ever top-ranked player at the age of 21.
He now is No. 2.
FAMILY HOUSE: Mediate leads
Rocco Mediate, a two-time PGA Tour winner who grew up in western Pennsylvania, shot a 6-under-par 65 to take the first-round lead in the 36-hole Family House Invitational in Oakmont, Pa.
Jay Haas opened with a 67, and two-time U.S. Open winner Ernie Els was four back along with Mark Brooks, Jeff Sluman and Jim Furyk.
