Compton hopes to shift focus from heart transplants to game

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Erik Compton, who's had two heart transplants, is co-leading after the first round in West Virginia.

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W. Va. -- Erik Compton doesn't mind the questions. In fact, he totally understands why the reporters ask.

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Compton just hopes that someday the focus will be on his golf game, not the two times he cheated death or that second transplanted heart now beating in his chest.

The Floridian took a step in that direction on Thursday, too, when he fired a 63 on the Old White Course to tie with Matt Every and take a one-stroke lead in the first round of The Greenbrier Classic.

The round of 7 under was Compton's lowest in 24 starts on the PGA TOUR. And Compton proved as tenacious on the golf course as he has in life -- making bogeys on two of his first three holes but playing the next 15 in 9 under.

"I hit some really close shots, a couple good putts, and I guess the round just kind of developed like that," the 30-year-old said.

Life should be so simple but Compton's certainly hasn't been. Diagnosed with cardiomyopathy as a child, his first heart came from a 12-year-old girl who was killed by a drunken driver.

Just over two years ago, though, Compton started having chest pains while he was fishing. He knew immediately what was going on.

So Compton drove himself to the hospital -- calling his parents along the way to say what he thought would be his final good-byes. But doctors were able to get him stabilized, and another heart became available when a 26-year-old man from Ohio was killed in a motorcycle accident.

Compton, who married and became a father after the second transplant, met the family of his donor last year during the Memorial Tournament. Often when he plays, Compton visits local hospitals -- and his story gained even more traction last month when he qualified for and played in the U.S. Open.

"It's amazing how many people have reached out to me since the Open that have disabilities, that have lost loved ones, (who) have been organ donors or recipients," said Compton, who was the subject of an HBO "Real Sports" segment.

Few of us know someone who has had one heart transplant -- much less two. So Compton, who must take 20 pills a day, accepts the curiosity about his near-death experiences and handles it with grace.

"I wouldn't say I walk around scared,' Compton said. "If you do that, you'll shoot 85 in a heartbeat out here. It is what it is. I've had to deal with death several times. I would say you get scared when you're in a situation like that.

"But day to day, I'm just enjoying the time and the good round that I had today. It's obviously different because I shoot 7 under and now we're talking about my health. And that is a bigger story than even if I shot 59, the fact that I'm playing out here with two transplants.

"In the past I was maybe a little bit in denial about that, but I know it's a bigger story. It affects so many people."

Compton has played in six TOUR events this season with a tie for 30th at Bay Hill his best performance and missed cuts in his last two starts. He was working in the garden of his Miami home when he found out Saturday that he had received a sponsor's exemption to play at The Greenbrier.

Compton hadn't touched a club in eight days. He practiced on Sunday morning and headed to West Virginia to get acquainted with the Old White.

"I think it probably did me some good, because I had been pushing myself since the U.S. Open," Compton said. "A lot of requests, especially with the cameras following me around when I was doing the HBO thing. It was good to get home and just unwind."

Compton is a cumulative 33 over in his last three starts -- including rounds of 77-81 at Pebble Beach. He acknowledges that it's hard to find a competitive rhythm when you're playing on sponsor's exemptions. Stamina can also be an issue for him -- particularly when the courses are hilly.

"Golf is a funny game," Compton said. "The last three weeks, even though I have been playing on sponsor's invites and I am a two time heart transplant recipient and I'm supposed to miss cuts and shoot bad scores, it wasn't really the way it was playing out. I was getting some bad breaks, and it was hard to take advantage of plugged lies and things like that.

"You know, some guys miss, six, seven cuts in a row and then win. I know I'm a good player, and I have a lot of the adversity in front of me with the game and health. But I always feel like if I stick in there and keep trying, something eventually good is gonna happen."

Maybe this is the week. Compton certainly feels he's ready. He's comfortable with the media attention, particularly after having those cameras follow him for the HBO special. And it anything, the twists and turns of his life have taught Compton the value of patience.

"Every day there is adversity that I deal with," he said. "But I believe that everybody has something, whether it's an injured neck or foot or whatever. You just got to make the best of it. That's what the best players in the world do."

And that's exactly what Compton wants to be.