After two heart transplants, Compton shines at U.S. Open

PINEHURST, N.C. – Erik Compton was chatting at the podium when Rickie Fowler leaned in to take a selfie with his buddy in the background.

Shows just how far Compton has come in the past week.

Now, he’s the one being treated like a star.

“I’ve never gotten this far along in my story,” Compton said Sunday night, choking back tears not long after soaking up the last of the raucous cheers that followed him all the way around Pinehurst No. 2. “It’s a career-opening thing for me. For me to put myself on the map and prove to the world that I’m not just the guy with two heart transplants.”

Before he hit a shot in the U.S. Open, Compton already had traveled a remarkable journey. Diagnosed with heart disease as a child, Compton received his first transplant at age 12. Sixteen years later, he suffered a major heart attack but managed to drive himself to the hospital quickly enough to extend his life with another transplant.

Six years removed from that traumatic experience, Compton turned in the greatest performance of what had been a largely nondescript career. He tied with Fowler for the runner-up spot behind runaway winner Martin Kaymer.

“My mom summed it pretty well the other night,” Compton recalled. “She said, ‘Erik’s a golfer with two transplants, not a transplant recipient who plays golf.’ ”

After getting through sectional qualifying just to make it to the Open – and a two-hole playoff, at that – Compton was one of only three players to finish under par at the Open. He closed with a 72 for a 1-under 279, leaving him eight shots behind Kaymer.

Unless one knows the details of the story, there is no way to tell that Compton was so close to death not so long ago.

After turning pro in 2001, Compton struggled for the better part of a decade to break through. He spent most of those years on the Nationwide and Canadian tours, occasionally turning up at a PGA Tour event.

Golf was the last thing on Compton’s mind during that awful day in 2008, when he began to reject the replacement heart. Fortunately, he was aware of how his body should feel and knew that he needed help as soon as possible. He arrived at the hospital losing vision, struggling to stay conscious and coughing up blood.

“I was basically minutes away from dying,” Compton said last week. “People say that dying is peaceful. Well, maybe when you’re dead it’s peaceful. But the process of having a widow-maker heart attack is very painful.”

Johnson adds to Open’s ace streak

Zach Johnson made a hole-in-one on the 172-yard ninth hole at Pinehurst No. 2, taking advantage of a favorable pin placement on the right side of the green.

His shot landed about 20 feet left of the flag, bounced twice, then curled down a ridge into the cup.

It was the third year in a row that a player made a hole-in-one at the U.S. Open. Johnson’s ace was the 44th in tournament history.

Cart driver faces numerous charges

The man who drove NBC Sports analyst Roger Maltbie’s golf cart during the third round is facing four charges after an incident with a state trooper on the course, a North Carolina State Police spokeswoman said Sunday.

According to a police report, Tommy Lineberry was charged with felony assault on a law enforcement officer, felony hit and run, driving while impaired, and resisting, obstructing and delaying a law enforcement officer.

The trooper said Lineberry ignored instructions to stay put, then hit the officer with his golf cart.

Lineberry’s job is to drive Maltbie to get in position for the next shots. An AP reporter who witnessed the incident Saturday heard Lineberry tell the trooper, “I’m supposed to get the cart to Roger.”

“When a state trooper tells you to stop, that’s what you’re supposed to do,” the trooper responded.