Erik Compton: The favorite underdog at Quail Hollow
Charlotte, N.C. — The PGA Tour makes a stop in Charlotte this week for the Wells Fargo Championship. Erik Compton may not be a threat to win the event, but it's a miracle he's even in it and his story is one everyone can root for.
Compton never dreamed of even being a PGA Tour golfer – baseball was his favorite sports growing up. Then, a physical revealed that he suffered from viral cardiomyopathy, an infection that weakened his heart dramatically. He needed a heart transplant.
“When I was 12, to be one of the first to go through it at Jackson Memorial Hospital, was very frightening,” Compton said....Read more.
Golfer thankful for life, opportunity to compete at Wells Fargo
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Pro golfers from all over the world are converging on Charlotte this week.
But one PGA golfer is just thankful for another day and having the opportunity to play the game of golf. Erik Compton continues paying it forward with golf and, more importantly, life.
"I was gonna be a professional baseball player and now am playing professional golf,” he said.
His profession plays part of a remarkable recovery in his personal life.
“Anybody going through a major surgery at a young age and nobody wants to get cut open," Crompton said. "It’s just a roller coaster of emotion whether you can get a donor or survive surgery."
That first surgery was a heart transplant at age 12...Read more.
Professional golfer on the links after two heart transplants
CHARLOTTE — Surviving two separate heart transplants is not standing in the way of one professional athlete.
Professional golfer Erik Compton is in Charlotte, competing in the Wells Fargo Championship. While his mind is on the game, he's still advocating for organ donation.
Making the trek up in down 18 greens is all in a day's work at the Wells Fargo Championship. But for Pro Erik Compton it has a bigger meaning.
"I'm just trying to live my life the best that I can, playing out here week in and week out," said PGA tour player Erik Compton.
The 33-year old is a two-time heart transplant recipient...Read more.
Compton’s heart beats for cause of a lifetime
Erik Compton’s first heart transplant came in 1992, when he was only 12. That heart lasted 16 years. Then Compton nearly died in 2008 and ended up getting a second heart transplant.
Now he is 33 and, amazingly, one of the best golfers in the world. Ranked No. 70 in the FedEx Cup standings, Compton is playing in the Wells Fargo Championship this week in Charlotte and simultaneously championing the cause of organ donation.
It is a difficult balancing act. He is having the best season of his life, including four Top 25 finishes and one tie for fourth. But he has yet to win in his PGA Tour career. To make it to the weekend is no sure thing – he has missed the cut in his past three events... Read more.
Erik Compton's story is still being written
DORAL, Fla. -- This is his hometown event, and it burns Erik Compton to not be here. In another time, he would absolutely have teed it up in the annual PGA Tour stop at Doral. That was when he had a different heart.
Back then Compton, now 33, was getting sponsor exemptions to play at Doral. He was a college golfer at Georgia or early in his pro career, playing golf, remarkably, despite a heart transplant that was necessary when he was just 12 years old.
Now, nearly five years after a second heart transplant, Compton is coming off his best finish on the PGA Tour, a tie for fourth at the Honda Classic that had him fuming about his final-hole bogey and fighting to move beyond his story.
And yet, it's all but impossible to do... Read more.
Compton seeks perfection, 1st win
By the time veteran PGA Tour caddie Ron Levin began working with Erik Compton this year, Compton was a miracle two times over.
Compton, a second-year pro who competes with the likes of Tiger Woods to make a living, wakes up every morning thanks to the beating of the third heart he has had in his 33 years.
Compton had his first heart transplant at age 12 in 1992 and had a second one in 2008 after he suffered a heart attack. He lives each day blocking out thoughts about whether he will need a third transplant later in life.
Yet, in spite of the hurdles that might break many people, Compton never wavered from his dream of playing professional golf, and he finished in a tie for seventh at the PGA Tour qualifying school to earn his playing status on Tour this year...Read more.
NO DOUBT, COMPTON HAS PLENTY OF HEART(S)
We've all seen that depiction — usually in cartoons — where it’s a clear blue sky save for that tiny rain cloud hovering over a character’s head.
Friday at Torrey Pines Golf Course, however, the opposite took place.
Rain clouds emceed the second round of the Farmers Insurance Open, pouring down precipitation from the first tee to the scoring trailer. But had you followed Erik Compton or simply stumbled into his gallery, the sunlight above him would have blinded.
Yes, Tiger Woods and Rickie Fowler each shot rounds of 7-under-par 65 on the North Course, tying Compton for the low score of the day. But Woods and Fowler also still have their original hearts.
The 33-year-old Compton? He’s on his third... Read more.
5 Bold PGA Tour Predictions for 2013
Erik Compton will win on the PGA Tour in 2013. Erik Compton is best known as the golfer on his third heart. He is an amazing story, and he can flat out golf his ball. In 2012 Compton had full time PGA Tour status for the first time in his career. Although he did not finish in the top 125 on the money list, Compton earned his card back via a 7th place finish at Q-School. Compton voiced his confidence toward the 2013 saying he will feel much more comfortable knowing the courses and venues. I believe Compton earns his first career PGA Tour victory in 2013, and becomes a marquee player.
Tiger Woods will regain the #1 world ranking. This may sound quite far-fetched being that Woods is currently ranked 3rd in the world, a substantial 4.69 points behind Rory McIlroy. It may take McIlroy some time to fully adjust and feel completely comfortable with Nike equipment. In the mean time, I believe Woods wins 3-5 times on the PGA Tour in 2013, including a major... Read more.
Must-Watch Story: 12-Year-Old Maintains Remarkable Attitude While Waiting for Heart Transplant, Gets to Meet Golfer Erik Compton Who Inspires Her to ‘Get Out and Swing the Club’
Twelve-year-old Anna King learned just a few weeks ago that she needed a heart transplant, but she’s not letting her health concerns get her down.
Anna and her mother joined Happening Now to tell their story.
After feeling rundown and experiencing flu-like symptoms for several weeks, a cardiologist discovered that Anna suffers from dilated cardiomyopathy, a heart condition that requires that she have a heart transplant.
Anna described learning the news, saying, “Obviously, the situation stinks.” After the shock of it wore off, Anna said that she and her family “decided to look at it in an optimistic way because that’s how we always look at things.”... Read more.
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