Venturi expected to recover after heart surgery

Former U.S. Open champ still in hospital after procedure on Friday

	Ken Venturi was the PGA Player of the Year in 1964.
Roberto Borea / AP

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updated 2:52 p.m. ET Dec. 5, 2006

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. - Former U.S. Open champion Ken Venturi was expected to have a full recovery after undergoing heart surgery last Friday.

Venturi, 76, remained hospitalized Tuesday and a release date wasn’t set.

“He’s under some pain and being medicated,” business manager Ken Terjesen said.

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Venturi complained of chest pains last Thursday at his Rancho Mirage home, business manager Ken Terjesen said Tuesday. Venturi’s wife, Kathleen, then drove her husband to Eisenhower Medical Center.

“They did an angiogram and it indicated there were some problems and they operated Friday morning,” Terjesen said. “It was a five-way bypass and they did some valve repair. The doctors were very pleased with the operation. The prognosis is good.”

The winner of 14 PGA tournaments and longtime golf analyst for CBS-TV turned professional in 1956 and began competing on the PGA Tour, where he won 14 tournaments between 1957 and 1966. In 1964, he was named PGA player of the year after his dramatic U.S. Open win.

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He was forced to retire at 33 because of severe carpal tunnel syndrome, but found a new career as a television analyst until retiring in 2002.