Compton honors his heart transplant donor at Memorial

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After receiving his second heart transplant last year, Erik Compton says every heartbeat is a blessing.

DUBLIN, Ohio -- Before the world's best players do battle at Muirfield Village each year, Jack Nicklaus honors some of the greats of the game at his aptly named Memorial Tournament.

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Erik Compton will be honoring someone, too, as he takes advantage of a sponsor's exemption and plays in his fourth PGA TOUR event of the year. Someone whose death enabled Compton to live and follow his dream.

The man's name is Isaac. He was 28 years old, and as fate would have it, he was from the Columbus area where the Memorial Tournament is played. Isaac was riding his motorcycle in Florida when he was killed in a hit-and-run accident just over a year ago.

Compton, who suffers from an enlarged heart, was desperately in need of what would be his second heart transplant. He had suffered a heart attack while fishing in September 2007 and almost didn't make it to the hospital. He had even called family members to say goodbye.

Compton hung on, though, for seven long months until Isaac's heart could give him a third chance at life. As fate would have it -- there's that word again -- he woke up from the surgery in intensive care and watched Kenny Perry win the Memorial Tournament.

As his body got intimately acquainted with Isaac's heart, Compton laid in his hospital bed and dreamed of playing at Muirfield Village. Nicklaus would make it happen.

"I envisioned myself playing in this tournament a year ago, when I had staples like you have on your ring of your notebook there, all over my body," Compton said. "I was 130 pounds, and the only enjoyment I could get was putting my feet into a jacuzzi that was next to my parents' room. ...

"Couldn't sleep, but I was able to watch the Memorial, and I knew I'd be playing here."

Small wonder, then, that Isaac and his family won't be far from Compton's thoughts this week. He has exchanged e-mails with the family, and he knows they will meet when the time is right. The emotions are still somewhat raw, though.

"I think that, from my take on it, the family is a very, very strong family," Compton said. "They're a very spiritual family. And they're very understanding of what I'm trying to do and trying to live life and what their son would have wanted. ...

"For me to play this week -- I wrote them a letter and said that I'd be honoring him and making this a memorable week because it is ironic that I do have a heart from somebody who's in this town and this tournament is the Memorial."

Compton, who visited the Nationwide Children's Hospital Wednesday morning, had his first transplant when he was 12 and the heart of a 15-year-old girl named Jannine extended his life. He went on to earn All-America honors at the University of Georgia and played the Nationwide Tour, as well as several mini-tours in pursuit of his dream.

Compton would be the first to tell you, though, that his accomplishments on the golf course pale in comparison to the medical miracle that is his life. He met his soul mate after he suffered the heart attack and he and his new wife Barbara were blessed with a daughter, Petra, in February.

"Basically, every heartbeat that I have ... I know it's a blessing," Compton said. "It's not an everyday experience for me, but it's an experience that I've lived most of my life with. So it seems normal to me.

"But, you know, when I get on the golf course, I'm able to balance the two of them and somehow figure out how to play some good golf every now and then."

Compton says he feels "pretty normal" right now, thanks in large part to what he calls a "very, very strong heart. It was a good match to my body." He gets stronger physically with each passing month, and he feels is game is still strong.

Compton played in The Honda Classic earlier this year and opened with a pair of 69s. He went on to tie for 44th after rounds of 73 and 72 on the weekend. Compton missed the cut in Puerto Rico and at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard.

A PGA TOUR card is among Compton's goals in life. He played a practice round with Nicklaus and his son, Jackie, last Sunday, and another with Ernie Els earlier in the week. He tees off No. 10 at 9:09 a.m. ET with Chris Stroud and James Kamte on Thursday.

"I think my game's just as good as some of the best players as far as being able to hit the ball, but I obviously have limitations and adversity that they don't have," Compton said. "That's what is exciting to me is that there's a new beginning for me now at 30 whereas maybe some careers are ending at 30 for other sports people.

"If I'm healthy and I continue the progress that I am now, I don't see why I can't permanently get a card out here and compete every once in a while. I think I have the ability."

And the heart.