Compton's remarkable journey continues with invite from Nicklaus
DUBLIN, Ohio -- A year ago this week, Tiger Woods lamented the stress fracture in his left leg he had just learned about, the one that would make for a historic U.S. Open but also -- known only to him -- would end his season prematurely.
Erik Compton was dealing with a different kind of distress, only a few days removed from his second heart transplant surgery. Glad to be alive, he lay in a hospital's intensive care unit watching the Memorial Tournament on television.
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The Memorial will be Erik Compton's fourth start on the PGA Tour this season. He finished T-44 at the Honda Classic but missed the cut in his two other events.
"I want to play there next year," he thought.
Crazy notion, really.
But if you've followed Compton's story at all, it really is no surprise that he is here at Muirfield Village Golf Club on a sponsor's exemption this week.
Compton was back playing competitive golf well before Woods was able to return from knee surgery. Of course, Woods could barely walk, and his return is still a work in progress as this will be his seventh tournament -- with five top-10s and a victory to his credit.
For Compton, 29, it's more about taking the steps toward being competitive again. A former junior all-American who starred at the University of Georgia, Compton suffered a heart attack in September 2007 and was told he would need to replace the heart he received at age 12.
After the May 20, 2008 surgery, Compton remarkably played the first stage of PGA Tour Qualifying School in October -- just five months later. He advanced to the second stage, where he missed getting to the finals by a single stroke. He made the cut at the Children's Miracle Network Classic and the Honda Classic, while also getting exemptions to tournaments in Puerto Rico and Bay Hill.
Oh, and in February, his wife, Barbara, had the couple's first child.
But this tournament is different. Living in South Florida, tournament host Jack Nicklaus has followed Compton's career, so the invitation was a natural.
And then when you consider that the transplant donor belonged to a Columbus, Ohio-area man named Isaac who had been killed in a hit-and-run accident while riding a motorcycle, it was fitting.
"For me to play this week. ... I wrote [the family] 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 and it happened to be around the same time as the transplant."
Compton said he has never met the family, and hopes to one day meet them if it can be arranged.
For now, he's thrilled to be playing again after a long break between tournaments. Compton last played at Bay Hill, where he missed the cut. He arrived in Ohio early and played a practice round on Sunday with Nicklaus.
"I'm always reminded of it," Compton said of his condition. "Basically, every heartbeat that I have. I know it's a blessing. It's not an everyday experience for me, but it's an experience I've lived most of my life with. So it seems normal to me.
"But 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 has no other tournaments scheduled. He hopes to receive a few more sponsor exemptions, perhaps occasionally try to qualify on Mondays. When at home, he practices and plays and gives lessons at a course in Miami.
Then the idea is to get ready for another run through the qualifying tournament in the fall.
"I'll start putting together more of a strategic schedule as far as playing tournaments in a row," Compton said. "This has been a year, having the transplant, the baby and everything. I didn't want to overdo it."
Phil's prep
Phil Mickelson's apparent decision to play next week in Memphis -- he has yet to officially commit to the tournament -- in the week prior to the U.S. Open is great news for golf and perhaps will serve as good therapy for Lefty, who understandably is going through a tough time after learning two weeks ago that his wife, Amy, has breast cancer.
After initially saying he would take an indefinite leave from the PGA Tour and withdrawing from the Byron Nelson and Colonial tournaments, Mickelson is coming back, apparently because his wife's possible surgery has been pushed back.
Now you wonder how ready he will be to play.
Mickelson will undoubtedly get a ton of fan support at both Memphis and Bethpage Black, but it is unclear how much work he'll have put into his game. He has not played since a lackluster finish at the Players Championship. And he typically takes extra time to learn the major championship venues, spending a day or two at the site. It is unclear if Mickelson will be able to visit Bethpage before Open week or if he is even inclined to do so.
Perhaps this is a time when it would be best for Mickelson to not worry about it. Let it happen. Low expectations can sometimes lead to great results.
A look at this week's venue
Muirfield Village Golf Club was Jack Nicklaus' dream, constructed near his hometown of Columbus, Ohio, and in the works about the time the Golden Bear completed the career Grand Slam in 1966. He won the British Open that year at Muirfield in Scotland, hence the name for his own venue.
The 18-hole layout measured 6,978 yards when it first opened in 1974 but is now 7,366 yards. The first Memorial Tournament was played in 1976 and was won by Roger Maltbie. Nicklaus won the tournament twice, in 1977 and 1984.
The course has proven to be quite difficult over the years -- 12 times it has had the highest 36-hole cut on the PGA Tour. Last year, the course ranked fifth out of 54 on the PGA Tour in difficulty, putting it right up there with the major championships.
This year, it appears the Muirfield Village will not be quite as stout, and that would have been the case before heavy rain on Tuesday. The rough is not quite as severe this year, with several players suggesting scores will be lower.
Bob Harig covers golf for ESPN.com. He can be reached at BobHarig@gmail.com.
Birdies and bogeys
Birdies:
1. Steve Stricker: After failing down the stretch a few times this year, it was Stricker who took advantage at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial when Tim Clark could not close him out. The victory moved Stricker back into the top 10 in the world.
2. Steve Marino: He didn't make a birdie over the final nine holes at Colonial, then lost in a playoff. But he's been knocking at the door often, and appears set to break through soon.
3. Jack Nicklaus: He played in Wednesday's skins game at the Memorial with Tiger Woods. It was only nine holes and it was for fun, but it should not be taken for granted.
Bogeys:
1. Tim Clark: A 2-shot lead with five holes to go and needing just a par on the 18th to win, Clark was unable to close the deal, leaving him winless on the PGA Tour in 184 career starts.
2. Carolyn Bivens: The LPGA Tour commissioner is right to seek ways to market her players, but encouraging them to do it during an actual competitive round of golf by "tweeting'' -- pending the approval of the USGA -- goes too far.
3. Shane Lowry: The Irishman, whose stunning victory as an amateur at the Irish Open in the first European Tour event he played, got a rude welcome to play-for-pay golf when he shot 78-73 at the European Open to miss the cut by six strokes.
An opportunity missed?
The European Tour this week leaves England for Wales and the Celtic Manor Wales Open. The tournament is being contested at the Twenty Ten course at Celtic Manor, and yes, that is the name of the course that will host to the 2010 Ryder Cup.
European Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie, as expected, is in the field, and the U.S. captain, Corey Pavin, accepted an invitation to play the event. Pavin is coming off a strong performance at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, where on Sunday he shot 65 to tie for 18th.
While this will be an opportunity for players and the captains to get an advance scouting report on the venue, it was also hoped that Montgomerie and Pavin might be paired together for the first two rounds.
Not happening. Apparently Montgomerie put out the word that he wanted no part of such an arrangement, knowing that his game is not in the best of shape at the moment.
Of course, it doesn't matter which captain plays better now or then.
But Monty being Monty, he knows there is a chance for negativity to spout from such an occurrence if his American counterpart were to whip him.
Notables
• Of the five playoffs this year on the PGA Tour, three of them came in Texas. Paul Casey won the Houston Open over J.B. Holmes, Zach Johnson won the Valero Texas Open over James Driscoll and Steve Stricker defeated Tim Clark and Steve Marino on Sunday at Colonial.
• Then there is the Memorial Tournament, which has not had a playoff since 1992, the longest such streak on the PGA Tour. That year, David Edwards defeated Rick Fehr on the second extra hole.
• Stricker had been the only top-10 player in the FedEx Cup standings without a victory. With the win, he jumped to No. 2 behind Zach Johnson. Now the top 13 players in the FedEx standings have won, with No. 14 Charley Hoffman the highest non-winner.
• Clark now has 35 top-10s in 184 career starts on the PGA Tour, with seven runner-up finishes. With more than $13.275 million in career earnings, he ranks highest among players on the PGA Tour's career money list (62nd) without a victory.
• Marino now has 13 top-10s in 81 starts. He is in his third year on the PGA Tour.
• The Masters Tournament announced this week that it is donating $3.4 million to charity, the proceeds coming from the 2009 tournament won by Angel Cabrera. In addition to local Augusta, Ga., charities, Augusta National is making a $1 million donation to the First Tee. The club is a founding partner of the organization and has now donated more than $12 million since 1998. According to the club, it has now donated more than $39 million charity in the last 23 years.
• Paul Casey is getting it done on both sides of the Atlantic. He has two victories on the European Tour and one on the PGA Tour along with a runner-up finish. His fifth-place finish at Colonial was his third top five on the PGA Tour this year.
• Hoffman had gone 166 consecutive holes without a 3-putt until doing so on the ninth hole of the final round at Colonial. Nonetheless, his streak of 23 consecutive made cuts continues.
• Brian Davis has put together 24 consecutive rounds of par or better. He had three straight top-5s before a tie for 34th at Colonial.
Quotable
"I can't take anything positive from today. ... I have a lot of work to do when it comes to closing out golf tournaments."
-- Tim Clark, after losing in a playoff at the Colonial
Catching up with last year's champ
This is where it all began for Kenny Perry a year ago. He read a newspaper comment from U.S. Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger that he would have difficulty picking anyone as an at-large selection for the team who had not won. Perry figured he better think in those terms, and, sure enough, he went on to capture his third Memorial title.
He then went on to victories at the Buick Open and the John Deere Classic before helping the U.S. team win the Ryder Cup at Valhalla.
Perry kept it going this year, winning a playoff at the FBR Open before leading through 71 holes of the Masters, in which he lost in a playoff to Angel Cabrera. Since the Masters, Perry tied for 59th at the Zurich Classic, finished T-22 at the Players Championship and ended up T-34 at last week's Colonial.
The Memorial Tournament picks
Horse for the Course: Kenny Perry. In 20 appearances, Perry has missed just three cuts at Muirfield Village, won three times and has six top-10s.
Birdie Buster: Zach Johnson. In his last two starts, he as a win and a tie for ninth with seven of eight rounds in the 60s.
Super Sleeper: Charley Hoffman. He's cooled off a bit since early in the year when he contended several times, but Hoffman is on a streak of 23 consecutive made cuts on the PGA Tour.
Winner: Tiger Woods. He's had three weeks to work on his deficiencies and Muirfield Village is a place where he's won three times and has five top-10 finishes. You know he'll be ready to go.