Erik Compton, I’ll caddy for you

Erik Compton, a PGA Tour member 2 years in a row, currently has $626,000 in earnings – good for 117th on tour. He finished in a tie for fourth at a tournament in March 2013.

So what, you might ask?

Erik Compton has had two heart transplants, the second in 2008, and he was back at a PGA Tour event 5 months later.

I cite his example to patients who are on a trajectory for listing and to friends who may have a jaundiced eye about advances in cardiovascular medicine. When a patient told me recently that he took up golf only after his transplant, I joked that we had used Ben Hogan’s heart in the surgery.

In any event, Compton’s achievement is truly remarkable, a tribute to his care team but mostly to the golfer himself.

I’d be thrilled to caddy for him. Here’s hoping I can track his 300-yard drives!

Dr. Hauptman is professor of internal medicine and assistant dean of clinical-translational research at Saint Louis University and director of heart failure at Saint Louis University Hospital. He is an associate editor for Circulation: Heart Failure and blogs while staring out his office window at the Arch.