Erik Compton was just fine Friday afternoon. His wife, not so much.
Compton, the former Georgia Bulldog and two-time heart transplant recipient, shot an even-par 72 on Friday to easily make the cut in his first-ever Masters. He’s 1-over heading into Saturday’s third round.
His wife, Barbara Casco Compton, was not doing quite as well. She greeted a surprised Erik Compton in the post-round scoring area sporting crutches with her left foot in a brace.
Compton was aware his wife had a little mishap Friday morning. She had stumbled on the stairs of their rented home as she got ready to come to Augusta National. And she actually shook it off to follow her husband on the front nine.
But by the turn her ankle was swollen and sore. She was attended by one of the Augusta National’s physical trainers and told to get off it immediately
“You, OK?” Compton asked thoughtfully as they kissed and embraced under the famous Big Oak outside the clubhouse. “You walked the front nine, didn’t you?”
“I did, but I was limping and it started to hurt very bad,” said Mrs. Compton, a native Argentine.
Both the Comptons were feeling good about his golf game. In fact, while pleased to have made his first cut in a major since finishing second in last summer’s U.S. Open, Compton was slightly annoyed not to be more prominently in the mix.
For the second straight day, he parred the first 12 holes and he moved to 1-under with a birdie. But then he gave it all back with poorly played holes at 14 and 15. He missed the fairway and three-putt the par-4 14th, then his second shot into the water trying to reach the par-5 15th green in two.
“Stupid mistake,” Compton said. “I should have hit it over the green there. I shouldn’t have been flirting with that front edge next to the water there.”
But Compton played solid the rest of the way, carding a birdie at 17 and getting up and down for par at 18.
He may be more than a dozen shots behind the leader but Compton believes there’s still a chance to do something special at Augusta. He plans to take an aggressive approach the rest of the way.
"I did finish second at the U.S. Open," Compton said confidently. "It's not like I'm patient out here. I mean, I know how to play golf. I deserve to be here. I should make the cut. I consider myself one of the top 100 players in the world and there's no reason I can't compete at a high level. I need to do some things better this weekend. But if you could shoot a couple of 68s on the weekend, you're going move up."
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