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Erik Compton

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Erik Compton
Personal information
Full nameErik Harald Høie Compton
Born (1979-11-11) November 11, 1979 (age 44)
Miami, Florida, U.S.
Height5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Weight150 lb (68 kg; 11 st)
Sporting nationality United States
ResidenceCoral Gables, Florida, U.S.
Spouse
Barbara Casco
(m. 2008; div. 2017)

Yessenia Gonzalez
Children1
Career
CollegeUniversity of Georgia
Turned professional2001
Current tour(s)Korn Ferry Tour
Former tour(s)PGA Tour
Canadian Tour
NGA Hooters Tour
Professional wins6
Highest ranking71 (July 6, 2014)[1]
Number of wins by tour
Korn Ferry Tour1
Other5
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament51st: 2015
PGA ChampionshipCUT: 2014
U.S. OpenT2: 2014
The Open ChampionshipCUT: 2014
Achievements and awards
Canadian Tour
Order of Merit winner
2004
PGA Tour
Courage Award
2013

Erik Harald Høie Compton (born November 11, 1979) is a Norwegian-American professional golfer.

Compton was born in Miami, Florida, to an American father and a Norwegian mother and holds dual citizenship.[2] He attended the University of Georgia and played on the 2001 Palmer Cup and Walker Cup teams. He has had two heart transplants.

Medical condition

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When he was nine, Compton was diagnosed with viral cardiomyopathy, a condition where the heart muscle is inflamed and unable to pump as hard as it should. This condition has resulted in him undergoing two successful heart transplants, the first being in 1992 when Compton was 12, and the second taking place in 2008.[3] During the Masters Tournament at Augusta, Georgia in April 2009, Compton received the Ben Hogan Award, which is given annually to a golfer who has stayed active in golf despite a physical handicap or serious illness. He also gained recognition for his attempts to be allowed the use of a golf cart during qualifying rounds for PGA Tour and Nationwide Tour events.[4]

Professional career

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After graduating from the University of Georgia, Compton turned professional in 2001. He played on the Nationwide Tour in 2002 and again from 2005 to 2007. His best finish was a T2 at the 2004 Preferred Health Systems Wichita Open.

Compton played on the Canadian Tour in 2003 and 2004. In 2004, he dominated the Canadian Tour, winning twice and also winning the Order of Merit title. He also won the 2004 Hassan II Golf Trophy in Morocco.

Compton has also played the mini-tours, winning a few events on the NGA Hooters Tour. He played in thirty PGA Tour events as a non-member from 2000 to 2011 through sponsor exemptions and qualifying, making the cut 18 times. His best PGA Tour finish as a non-member was T25 in the 2011 Northern Trust Open. In 2010, Compton advanced to the Tour's final round of qualifying school. He finished tied for 100th, which granted him conditional Nationwide Tour status. In 2011, Compton won the Mexico Open, his first win on a major golf tour. Compton finished 13th on the money list, good enough for a PGA Tour Card for 2012.

In 2012, Compton made 16 of 26 cuts on the PGA Tour. His best finish was T-13 at the John Deere Classic.[5] He finished 163rd on the money list, failing to retain his tour card. He returned to qualifying school and finished T-7 to regain his card for 2013. In 2013, he recorded his first top-10 finish by placing T-4 at The Honda Classic in March.[5] He qualified for the FedEx Cup playoffs and finished the 2013 points in 99th place to retain his card and full playing rights.[6]

In 2014 Compton had his best season on tour, recording three top-10s, qualifying for the playoffs and finishing 64th in FedEx Cup points.[7] Also, that season, he recorded his best PGA Tour finish to date, when he tied for 2nd at the 2014 U.S. Open, which also earned him his first invitation to the Masters Tournament and the 2015 U.S. Open.

During the 2015 season Compton recorded one top-10 and finished the season 124th in FedEx Cup points, which was good enough to keep his card for 2016.[8] In 2016, Compton missed many cuts and was even disqualified from the John Deere Classic for missing the Wednesday Pro-Am.[9] As a result, he finished the season in 173rd and lost his tour card.[10] He has played primarily on the Korn Ferry Tour since.

Amateur wins

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Professional wins (6)

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Korn Ferry Tour wins (1)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner-up
1 Jun 26, 2011 Mexico Open −17 (68-70-68-65=271) 2 strokes United States Richard H. Lee

Korn Ferry Tour playoff record (0–2)

No. Year Tournament Opponents Result
1 2004 Preferred Health Systems Wichita Open United States Hunter Haas, United States Scott Harrington,
Australia Bradley Hughes
Hughes won with birdie on first extra hole
2 2019 Wichita Open United States Bryan Bigley, Denmark Sebastian Cappelen,
United States Kevin Dougherty, Sweden Henrik Norlander
Norlander won with par on third extra hole
Cappelen, Compton and Dougherty eliminated by birdie on first hole

Canadian Tour wins (3)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 May 11, 2003 Michelin Guadalajara Classic −14 (67-71-69-63=270) 4 strokes Canada David Hearn, Mexico Antonio Maldonado
2 Apr 25, 2004 E-Loan Central Valley Classic −15 (69-65-71-68=273) 3 strokes New Zealand Ben Gallie
3 Jul 11, 2004 MTS Classic −17 (66-68-64-69=267) 1 stroke Canada David Hearn

NGA Hooters Tour wins (1)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner-up
1 Mar 28, 2004 Landings/NGA Pro Classic −14 (67-69-71-67=274) 4 strokes Australia Andrew Tschudin

Other wins (1)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner-up
1 Feb 27, 2005 Hassan II Golf Trophy −15 (71-69-69-68=277) 5 strokes Portugal José-Filipe Lima

Results in major championships

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Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Masters Tournament 51
U.S. Open CUT T2 CUT
The Open Championship CUT
PGA Championship CUT
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Summary

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Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
U.S. Open 0 1 0 1 1 1 3 1
The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Totals 0 1 0 1 1 1 6 2

U.S. national team appearances

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Amateur

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Week 27 2014 Ending 6 Jul 2014" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
  2. ^ "Halvt norske Erik har hatt tre hjerter (Norwegian-American Erik has had three hearts)" (in Norwegian). August 1, 2010. Retrieved March 5, 2013.
  3. ^ "Erik Compton: Surviving two new hearts, to US Open runner-up". BBC Sport. June 16, 2014.
  4. ^ Durning, Marijke (April 6, 2009). "2 Heart Transplants, 1 golfer, Erik Compton". Archived from the original on October 20, 2009. Retrieved March 5, 2013.
  5. ^ a b "PGA Tour – Season – Erik Compton". PGA Tour. Retrieved March 5, 2013.
  6. ^ "2013 FedEx Cup Standings". PGA Tour. Retrieved January 21, 2019.
  7. ^ "2014 FedEx Cup Standings". PGA Tour. Retrieved January 21, 2019.
  8. ^ "2015 FedEx Cup Standings". PGA Tour. Retrieved January 21, 2019.
  9. ^ McEwan, Michael (August 11, 2016). "Erik Compton DQ'd for crazy reason". bunkered.
  10. ^ "2016 FedEx Cup Standings". PGA Tour. Retrieved January 21, 2019.
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