Loyal readers of these hebdomadal haverings – and by loyal I mean those who give this section of the paper a brief glance in the hope that these Tuesday twaddlings have been discontinued before penning yet another letter of harrumphing complaint to the sports editor - will know that this correspondent is a man of fairly simple tastes. My idea of gourmet dining, for instance, is lavishly sprinkling some hand torn basil over a tub of Potted Heid.

In these times of rampant razzmatazz and hooting hysteria, though, such a modest, low-key acceptance of life’s routine pleasures simply doesn’t wash in an era when folk are regularly rendered dumb-struck by the same kind of over-blown, stunned sense of amazement that used to be the reserve of those workers in the Birds Eye Steak House Grills advert from the 1980s; you know, that one when they burst into song to the tune of Que Sera, Sera and warbled that ‘we hope it’s chips, it’s chips’ as the accompaniment to their frazzled clump of cheap-cut slop?

Everything is now life-changing, jaw-dropping and awe-inspiring, whether it’s someone gurgling out a rendition of the ‘Wind Beneath My Wings’ on X-Factor or a grinning celebrity performing a couple of hum-drum birls and twirls to shrieking raptures on Strictly Come Dancing. Upload a couple of photos onto Facebook of yourself successfully erecting a tent during a camping holiday at Seton Sands and even you will be greeted with the same kind of gaping mouthed, deifying reverence that used to be lavished upon Zeus.

Of course, there are genuine examples of uplifting inspiration in this wacky old world and in golf, few can rival the story of Erik Compton. His sizeable hint last week that he was pondering giving up the game after losing his PGA Tour card was a move towards the closing chapter in a remarkable story. Sport is awash with competitors overcoming adversity but Compton trumps most of them. His tale is well-documented yet its ability to dumbfound remains undiminished. As a 12-year-old back in 1992, he underwent a heart transplant. In 2008, he had another. Despite the ravages on his body, the 36-year-old former Walker Cup player chiselled out a rewarding professional existence and, only two seasons ago, he finished in a share of second in the US Open. It was a defining moment in a career, and a life, that has defied the odds. "I think my mom summed it up pretty well," noted Compton in the aftermath of that major moment in 2014. "She said ‘Erik's a golfer with two transplants, not a transplant recipient who plays golf’. I finally had that feeling of putting myself on the map. I don't have anything to really prove to anybody anymore.”

Compton was and remains a man of great courage and character; the embodiment of persistence in an infuriating, fickle game that certainly requires plenty of that. You could say he is the ultimate brave heart.

In this turbulent period, when the term Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) is banded about in wild abundance and all manner of hitherto squeaky clean and venerated sporty folk are now being viewed with increasingly narrow-eyed suspicion for their alleged bending of the anti-doping laws, Compton could be forgiven for shaking his head in dismay, perhaps even disgust.

While various cyclists – yes, that sport which smug, sneering commentators decided was the ‘new golf’ – continue to deny the use of TUEs to gain an unfair advantage in their chosen field, Compton had to use his simply to get going on a daily basis. Ten pills, twice a day have had an effect. “I had a series of tests and they found some progression of rejection that was leading to complications, the closing of the arteries, so they put me on some medications that are doing the job,” Compton said. “But I have to take other pills to counteract the side effects of those pills, so I’ve been over-medicated for some time now. It has taken a toll on other things in my body, and it’s taken a toll on my game. I've been through the ringer enough, and I can't seem to find a way to get out of it.”

In these win-at-all-cost times, where marginal gains make all the difference and the boundaries of human ability are being pushed to the limit by fair means or foul, Compton has simply been the best he can be in a sporting life that has been far from ordinary. Whatever his own future holds, golf has been a richer place for his person, his presence and his perseverance.