0Compton hoping for final Disney spot

It’s down to one final tournament, one final spot.

With the washout of last week’s Viking Classic, young phenoms Rickie Fowler and Jamie Lovemark earned a spot at the Tour’s finale next week at Disney via their top-10 finishes at the Frys.com Open. Now comes the real pressure, at least for CMN Classic officials left with one remaining sponsor exemption.

With plenty of interest for the spot from a host of players currently outside the top 125 in earnings, tournament director Kevin Weickel said the announcement will likely come Tuesday afternoon.

Among the contenders for the final spot is Erik Compton, the double heart transplant recipient who made the most of a similar exemption last year when he made the cut at Disney.

Compton won his first-stage Q-School event by three strokes last month and has been keeping his game sharp by giving his friends as many strokes as possible and working his ball around Deering Bay, a tony south Florida layout with tight fairways and relentless winds.

“My body is stronger now and it shows, I have a chance of succeeding on the golf course,” Compton said. “I feel like I’m swinging better now than ever before. I don’t have the same (swing) speed, but that helps that I’m not trying to kill the ball.”

As for Disney’s final spot, Compton said he was waiting to hear from officials and was cautiously optimistic.

“The fact I haven’t heard is a good thing,” he said.