With young guns Rickie Fowler and Jamie Lovemark given last-minute reprieves into the event via other means, tournament officials at Walt Disney World went a different direction with their last free pass into next week’s PGA Tour season finale.
Yet the recipient’s name, if not the story, ought to be familiar by now.
The Children’s Miracle Network Classic on Tuesday gave an invitation to medical marvel Erik Compton, who for the second year in a row received one of the event’s four sponsor exemptions.
On May 20, 2008, Compton received his second heart transplant and was competing in tour-sanctioned events an astounding five months later, a compelling story that generated headlines throughout golf. The former University of Georgia standout is the only known professional sports figure to have competed after having undergone two heart transplant surgeries.
The Disney event marks his fifth PGA Tour appearance of 2009. He missed the cut in Puerto Rico and the Arnold Palmer Invitational, but finished T44 at his hometown Honda Classic and was T76 at the Memorial Tournament. He made the cut last year at Disney.
Last week, Compton won a first-stage event in the annual PGA Tour Qualifying School by seven strokes, a key step in securing a spot on a sanctioned tour in 2010.
Disney tournament officials for days were weighing who to hand the last of their invitations, but when the Viking Classic was rained out last week, up-and-coming hotshots Fowler and Lovemark were automatically added to the Disney field, which meant they didn’t need an exemption to play. The two former college stars lost in a playoff a week earlier at the Frys.com Open in Arizona, giving Fowler two top-seven finishes on tour in as many pro starts.
The Viking Classic rainout helped opened the door for Compton, who turns 30 on Nov. 11, the day before the Disney tournament begins.
In April, Compton received the Ben Hogan Award from the Golf Writers Association of America, given annually to a player who has remained active in the game despite a handicap or serious illness.
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