Golfer Stricken by Heart Attack

Filed in archive Golf News on March 21, 2008

Courtesy: Nickent

While the top guns were teeing it up in practice rounds on Monday at the CA Championship at Doral, Erik Compton was lying in a Miami hospital after suffering a serious heart attack in the waiting room.

Compton is the quintessential Journeyman golfer. He has played in PGA tournaments since 2000 and has been a fixture on the Nationwide Tour since 2002.

But his real story goes back to when he was a kid.



At the age of 12, Compton had a heart transplant. Even as a boy, he was not well. He took up golf as part of his rehab and fell in love with the game.

And he was good. He became the top U.S. junior golfer and went on to be All American at the University of Georgia.

After turning pro, he spent much of his time on the Nationwide Tour. He played in several PGA tournaments but never did well. Except, ironically, at Doral where, in 2005, he finished T44 and won nearly 16 thousand dollars.

That was the high water mark for Compton at the Big Show. After that, it was back to the Nationwide where he played a full slate in 05, 06 and 07 never making more than 70 thousand dollars.

Compton is a long hitter whose game is fairly solid but he's had trouble making cuts over the years. Perhaps his health was the issue.

But he has only withdrawn from one tournament in the past 7 years. Compare that record to, say, John Daly.

On Monday, he felt stabbing pains between his shoulder blades and his mother convinced him to go to the hospital.

While he was filling out the usual forms, he suffered a full-blown heart attack and emergency angioplasty was performed. That was followed on Tuesday by another operation, this time to implant a defibrillator to keep his heart beating rhythmically.

Now, he's on a waiting list for a new heart. His second. The big question is how long will he have to wait?

It's hard to say if Erik Compton will ever play competitive golf again.

But even if he doesn't, he has demonstrated the strength and determination of the human spirit to stay alive and keep fighting against the odds.

Compton is one guy who deserves to win the lottery.