![]() ![]() When that heart wore out and a heart attack at 28 almost killed him, no one thought he would play competitive golf again. You play with somebody else’s heart, you get to have a little fun after the 10 millionth question. Once, representing the United States in the Walker Cup, he told the European press that, maybe, not for sure, his transplanted heart was from a Scottish girl. He became a two-time college all-American at the University of Georgia. He continued to play football, baseball and basketball with his parents insisting he think of himself as normal and capable of anything. When his own heart failed at 12 and a transplant was done, he was told his athletic dreams were done, though there is a home movie of him as a child being wheeled out of surgery in which he vows that he will still be a major league baseball player. How did we get here? When Compton was 9, he was diagnosed with viral cardiomyopathy, a condition in which the heart muscle is inflamed and unable to pump as hard as it should. “I might just sail off and never play golf again.” and those who have been through some tough times,” he said. But perhaps in Compton’s case, standing in second place and having the right to talk about it was a triumph in its own right. Most golfers duck the idea of talking about winning an Open before it actually happens as a surefire jinx. So maybe it’s a self-fulfilling thing I brought on myself.”īefore his round Saturday, Hall of Famer Chi Chi Rodriguez told him he would “shoot 64” because “of how tough you are.” He said if I got here, I would have a special week,” said Compton, who squeezed into this field after a five-man playoff. How did he even get into this Open? He had lunch with Jack Nicklaus last week, and “he kind of winked at me and said, ‘Your game will suit Pinehurst,’ ” said Compton, who still had to get through sectional qualifying in a 120-man field just to reach the Open. “If you have a bad situation or a bad day, you get up and try to do it again.”Ĭompton is far better known and admired within the golf community than he is by the general public. “I guess that’s kind of reflective of how I always lived my life,” said Compton, who regularly blocks out weeks when he visits hospitals or speaks to those who need an example of determination. And sometimes I don’t even know what hole I’m on because I’m just trying to execute and then move to the next shot. “I’m extremely hard on myself, but I tend to forget the shots I hit bad and move to the next hole. Open style course because I don’t ever give up,” said Compton. But then Compton doesn’t accept the normal definition of that word. His deficit to Kaymer almost defines insurmountable. He’s 5-feet-8, 150 pounds and has unexpected bouts of lost energy for “no rhyme or reason.”Īt many events he’s allowed to use a cart, though he often declines, but the USGA forbids it on this hot, humid track. ![]() He once spent almost a decade playing all over the world in every obscure minor league tour. ![]() Perhaps every viewer worldwide not actually named Kaymer would love that shock. Then, after a pause, he added, “but if I shoot 67 again, you may be surprised.” If I go out and shoot 90, I don’t think anybody will be surprised,” Compton said after matching Rickie Fowler for the lowest round of the day on Pinehurst No. Compton has never won anything except the 2011 Mexican Open - and the admiration and affection of almost everyone who has ever met him. Compton, you see, is playing with his third heart.Ĭompton, 34, who received new hearts at the age of 12 and again six years ago after a heart attack in 2007, stands five shots behind Germany’s Martin Kaymer, a classic fit champion who already has won a PGA Championship and, just last month, the Players Championship. Open after 54 holes, wins this country’s national golf championship Sunday, it may be the greatest testament to both the metaphor and the reality of competitive heart in sports that we will ever see. If Erik Compton, currently in second place in the U.S. ![]()
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