COLBERT RETURNS HEALTHY; SENIOR TOUR VETERAN BACK AT WILSHIRE.Byline: Dave Shelburne Daily News Staff Writer This time, Jim Colbert James Joseph Colbert (born March 9, 1941) is an American golfer. He was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He attended Kansas State University, where he finished second in the NCAA golf championships in 1964, before graduating and turning professional in 1965. comes back as a double survivor. Sixteen months ago, he was ``staring down the elephant,'' wondering if surgery would be enough to stem the prostate cancer prostate cancer, cancer originating in the prostate gland. Prostate cancer is the leading malignancy in men in the United States and is second only to lung cancer as a cause of cancer death in men. that had been suddenly, frighteningly discovered during a routine checkup check·up n. 1. An examination or inspection. 2. A general physical examination. checkup See Yearly checkup. . Two weeks ago, in the Transamerica Championship at Napa, Colbert was back in the winner's circle win·ner's circle n. pl. winners' circles An enclosed area at a racetrack where the winning horse and jockey are brought for awards and publicity. Noun 1. on the Senior PGA Tour The PGA Tour is an organization that operates the USA's main professional golf tours. It is headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, USA. Its name is officially rendered in all caps as “PGA TOUR". , completing a comeback that had earned the two-time money leader everything significant to him except a victory during the past year. Colbert, 57, enters today's Pacific Bell Senior Classic (formerly Ralphs Senior Classic) at Wilshire Country Club ranked seventh in 1998 tour earnings with $1,066,541. He is content with his game, his health and what he now sees as his mission: to preach the wisdom and necessity of regular checkups for prostate cancer. ``You need to catch it early,'' Colbert said, ``because then they can deal with it effectively. If you get it in the later stages, you have to deal with it the rest of your life.'' It's a message he shares spreading with fellow prostate-cancer survivor Arnold Palmer, who also will play at Wilshire this week and preceded Colbert's traumatic experience by nearly six months in 1997. ``Arnold is the one who openly came out and spoke about prostate cancer and really has been instrumental in bringing the subject out of the closet,'' Colbert said. Senior Tour player Bob Murphy credits Colbert and Palmer not just for their awareness efforts but for helping raise prostate-cancer research funding Research funding is a term generally covering any funding for scientific research, in the areas of both "hard" science and technology and social science. The term often connotes funding obtained through a competitive process, in which potential research projects are evaluated and through a program matching donations to birdies by tour players. ``Something needed to be done,'' Murphy said Wednesday at Wilshire. ``They've raised a lot of money for cancer but not prostate cancer.'' Colbert can be a relentless opponent on the golf course - he chased down current senior standard-setter Hale Irwin Hale S. Irwin (born June 3, 1945) is an American golfer. He is the uncle of Heath Irwin. Irwin was born in Joplin, Missouri. He graduated from the University of Colorado in 1967, where he was a two-time All-Big Eight defensive back, as well as an academic All-American in in the stretch runs of successive seasons to snatch Player of the Year honors from Irwin in 1995 and again in '96. But Colbert is equally serious in his pitch for awareness of a disease that claimed 40,000 lives last year. ``If you're 40 and over and a male,'' he said. ``get that PSA (Professional Services Automation) An information system designed to organize, track and manage all opportunities, work, resources, costs, revenues and invoices to improve the productivity and efficiency of the workforce. (prostate-specific antigen prostate-specific antigen n. Abbr. PSA A protease secreted by the epithelial cells of the prostate gland. Serum levels are elevated in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostate cancer. ) test. It's just a little blood out of your arm. It can save your life.'' As passionate as Colbert is in support of prostate-cancer awareness, the one-time Kansas State football player remains passionate about golf, as well. ``The kick is to play well as long as you can,'' said Colbert, who has 19 victories and $8.1 million in career earnings on the senior tour after earning $1.5 million and winning eight times on the PGA Tour. He seems to have a knack for playing well at Wilshire, where Gil Morgan Gilmer Bryan Morgan II, OD (born September 25 1946) is an American professional golfer. Morgan was born in Wewoka, Oklahoma. He graduated from East Central State College in Ada, Oklahoma in 1968. is the two-time defending tournament champion but where Colbert as easily could be bidding for a fourth consecutive title this week. Colbert finished second by a stroke in '95 and '96 at Wilshire during his successful runs that overtook Irwin, then led the tournament by three strokes last year - four months after his cancer surgery - only to tire in the final round and fade to finish fifth, seven strokes back. He had the fire if not the finish in those years, but with all he's been through in the past 16 months, have Colbert's goals and priorities changed? ``I know I'm supposed to say yes,'' he said. ``But the answer is no. I've always liked being a golf pro. If I ever want to change anything, I just want to be a little better.'' PACIFIC BELL SENIOR CLASSIC When: Today through Sunday. Where: Wilshire Country Club. Purse: $1.1 million, with $165,000 for first place. TV: Channel 9 will broadcast 1-3:30 p.m. live on Saturday and 3-5 p.m. (one hour delay) on Sunday. Tickets: $12 daily (1-800-842-5387). Parking: $5 at Pan Pacific lot (on Beverly Boulevard Beverly Boulevard is one of the main east-west thoroughfares in Los Angeles. It begins off of Santa Monica Boulevard in the Beverly Hills and West Hollywood border and ends on Lucas Avenue near Downtown Los Angeles. between Fairfax and La Brea La Brea (lə brā`ə), area, S Calif., formerly in Rancho La Brea. The La Brea asphalt pits, which yielded prehistoric animal and plant remains, are in Hancock Park, Los Angeles. ) with shuttle service to the course. The skinny: Two-time defending champion Gil Morgan joins two-time Senior Tour Player of the Year Jim Colbert, former major champions Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Raymond Floyd and Larry Nelson, and broadcast-booth refugees Johnny Miller and Gary McCord in the no-cut, 78-man field that includes 26 of the tour's top 30 players. CAPTION(S): Photo, Box Photo: Along with fellow prostate-cancer survivor Jim Colbert, Arnold Palmer has raised awareness of the disease, which killed 40,000 in 1997. Associated Press File Photo Box: PACIFIC BELL SENIOR CLASSIC (See Text) |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion