Erik Harald Høie Compton (born November 11, 1979) is a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

-American

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

. Compton was born in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

, to an American father and a Norwegian mother and holds

dual citizenship Multiple/dual citizenship (or multiple/dual nationality) is a legal status in which a person is concurrently regarded as a national or citizen of more than one country under the laws of those countries. Conceptually, citizenship is focused on ...

. He attended the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

and played on the 2001

Palmer Cup The Arnold Palmer Cup is an annual team golf competition for college/university golfers. From 2018 it has been contested between a United States team and an International team representing the rest of the world. The teams consist of 12 men and 12 ...

and

Walker Cup The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and Great Britain and Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup Match (not "Matches" as in Ryder Cup Matches). It is ...

teams. He has had two heart transplants.

Medical condition

When he was nine, Compton was diagnosed with viral

cardiomyopathy Cardiomyopathy is a group of diseases that affect the heart muscle. Early on there may be few or no symptoms. As the disease worsens, shortness of breath, feeling tired, and swelling of the legs may occur, due to the onset of heart failure. ...

, 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 transplant A heart transplant, or a cardiac transplant, is a surgical transplant procedure performed on patients with end-stage heart failure or severe coronary artery disease when other medical or surgical treatments have failed. , the most common procedu ...

s, the first being in 1992 when Compton was 12, and the second taking place in 2008. During the

Masters Tournament The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply The Masters, or the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, the Masters is the first ma ...

Augusta, Georgia Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Georg ...

in April 2009, Compton received the

Ben Hogan William Ben Hogan (August 13, 1912 – July 25, 1997) was an American professional golfer who is generally considered to be one of the greatest players in the history of the game. He is notable for his profound influence on golf swing theory and ...

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 The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...

and

Nationwide Tour The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at that level. T ...

events.

Professional career

After graduating from the

, 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 PGA Tour Canada, commonly referred to as the Canadian Tour, is a men's professional golf tour headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The United States based PGA Tour took over operation of the tour on November 1, 2012, at which time it was renamed PG ...

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 The Hassan II Golf Trophy is a golf tournament in Morocco hosted by Prince Moulay Rachid. The tournament was founded by, and is now named for, his father, Hassan II, who served as King of Morocco. The tournament was originally staged as an invita ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria ...

. Compton has also played the mini-tours, winning a few events on the

NGA Hooters Tour SwingThought, formerly the NGA Pro Golf Tour, is the oldest developmental golf tour based in the United States. The tour was acquired by Golf Interact in 2014 and rebranded as SwingThought. The tour consists of around 25 professional golf tourna ...

. He played in thirty

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 The Genesis Invitational is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour in southern California, first played in 1926 as the Los Angeles Open. Other previous names include Genesis Open, Northern Trust Open and Nissan Open. Played annually in ...

. In 2010, Compton advanced to the Tour's final round of

qualifying school In professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of the ...

. 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 The John Deere Classic is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour. It is played annually in July, usually the week before The Open Championship, at TPC Deere Run in the Quad Cities community of Silvis, Illinois. History The tournament be ...

. 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 The Honda Classic is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour in south Florida. It was founded in 1972 as Jackie Gleason's Inverrary Classic, and prior to a schedule change in 2021 was frequently the first of the Florida events in late winter ...

in March. He qualified for the

FedEx Cup playoffs The FedEx Cup is a championship trophy for the PGA Tour. Its introduction marked the first time that men's professional golf had a playoff system. Announced in November 2005, it was first awarded in 2007. Rory McIlroy is the 2022 champion. Thi ...

and finished the 2013 points in 99th place to retain his card and full playing rights. In

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Compton had his best season on tour, recording three top-10s, qualifying for the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eit ...

and finishing 64th in FedEx Cup points. 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

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. In 2016, Compton missed many cuts and was even disqualified from the

for missing the Wednesday Pro-Am. As a result, he finished the season in 173rd and lost his tour card. He has played primarily on the

Korn Ferry Tour The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at that level. ...

since.

Amateur wins

*2001

Monroe Invitational The Monroe Invitational Championship is an annual amateur golf tournament in the United States, played since 1937 at Monroe Golf Club in Pittsford, New York, a suburb southeast of Rochester. Originally a match play event, it switched to 72-hole st ...

Professional wins (7)

Korn Ferry Tour wins (1)

Korn Ferry Tour playoff record (0–2)

Canadian Tour wins (3)

NGA Hooters Tour wins (2)

*2 wins

Other wins (1)

Results in major championships

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

Summary

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur *

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan ...

(winners) *

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Compton, Erik American male golfers Georgia Bulldogs men's golfers PGA Tour golfers Korn Ferry Tour graduates Golfers from Miami Heart transplant recipients Sportspeople from Coral Gables, Florida American people of Norwegian descent 1979 births Living people