Erik Compton: "Somebody Who Could Win This Thing."
/Dave Kindred on two-time heart transplant recipient Erik Compton, teeing off in the second to last group Sunday at Pinehurst and trailing Martin Kaymer by five.
From Kindred's column:
Erik Compton had made five birdies in seven holes and, suddenly, surprisingly, he had introduced himself as More Than Just a Good Story.
"I'd been flying under the radar," he said, "and I was laughing at my caddie because I heard some guys cheering my name."
On the game's biggest stage, Compton had become Somebody Who Could Win This Thing.
For some background reading and viewing on Compton, here was Jim Moriarty's superb Compton profile from 2008 and Gene Wojciechowski's 2010 profile.
And a YouTube tease from the Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel feature on Compton from two years ago.
**Good stuff from Compton post round in Brian Wacker's piece, including more details from the stories repeated last night on the telecast and Live From telecast. There was also this about his home course:
Melreese Country Club, the course Compton practices at home in Miami, will rip out its fairways and greens next month. To prepare them for the renovation they were sprayed with Round Up four weeks ago to kill the Bermudagrass. Doing so just happened to create the same firm, fast conditions Compton has faced this week at Pinehurst No. 2 -- particularly on Saturday when just two players broke par, Compton being one of them.
“He joked to me, ‘Hey, these greens are slower than Melreese,’” Compton’s coach Charlie DeLuca said. “It worked out perfect.”
During the Memorial Tournament Compton also met the fiancée of the man whose heart he now carries. “She came up to him; it was a surprise,” Compton’s mother Eli said. “It got quite emotional.”
