McGee Diagnosed With Cancer

Jerry McGee is the latest member of the Senior PGA Tour to be diagnosed with cancer.

A biopsy performed last week on the 55-year-old McGee revealed a malignant tumor on his neck and another on his tongue, the senior tour announced Tuesday.

McGee will undergo surgery Wednesday at Montefiore Cancer Institute in Pittsburgh and will begin five-to-six weeks of chemotherapy treatment. He is not expected to return to the senior tour for a minimum of three months.

McGee, an Ohio native, first discovered a lump on his neck last December, but tests for cancer at the time were negative. When the lump did not go away, McGee consulted Dr. Eugene Myers, who then performed the biopsy.

"I have the utmost confidence in Dr. Myers. He's one of the best doctors in the world in this field, and I am confident that we will lick this together," McGee said.

McGee, a member of the senior tour since 1993, is 77th on the money list this season, earning $9,752 in five events. He won four times on the PGA Tour and was a member of the 1979 U.S. Ryder Cup team.

If McGee is looking for inspiration from other golfers, he can turn to Jim Colbert and Arnold Palmer, both of whom are back on the senior tour after battling prostate cancer.

Senior golfer Larry Gilbert died of lung cancer in January 1998.