Playing out of the afternoon wave and beginning off No. 10 tee, sponsor invite and World No. 1025 Erik Compton birdied two of his final three holes en route to a 2-under-par 34-34=68 in the weather-delayed second round of the Charles Schwab Challenge, down three places to T6 on 7-under 133, four adrift of 36-hole leader and past champ Jordan Spieth (66).
The 41-year-old, a two-time heart transplant recipient, makes his 92nd cut in 164 career TOUR events, first since the 2016 Quicken Loans National eight starts ago, where he was T16 at the midpoint before finishing T29 (68-70-68-75). His career best among five top 10s came at the 2014 U.S. Open at Pinehurst Resort (No. 2) in his second major start and second U.S. Open, where he was T2 after 54 holes (72-68-67-72) before finishing a distant T2 (with Rickie Fowler), eight adrift of champion Martin Kaymer. On eight (of 14) fairways and 11 greens in regulation, the University of Georgia product lost 0.511 strokes on approach but gained 0.186 off-the-tee and 0.768 around-the-green. He squared a lone bogey-5 at hole 3 (missed par-saver from 5'4"), offset by three circles at 10, 7 and 9, two from between 22 and 35 feet. Compton posted 0.956 SG: Putting with 27 total putts, and 1.398 SG: Total. At the midpoint, he ranks No. 1 in SGP (6.528) though 61st in SG: Off-the-Tee (-0.849). This is the Miami native’s second event of the season after a missed cut by eight at the Honda as an open-qualifier (70-79).