Trevor Immelman Wins Masters
Watching the Masters this week was not as predictable as many of us believed it to be. We thought for sure that the all time champion –Tiger Woods – would be the obvious winner – but there was a slight change of plans and the event took a different turn. Woods came in second place with Trevor Immelman coming in first and taking home the cup.
Unfortunately for Tiger, despite striking the ball well, he could not putt to save his life (win the championship!). He failed to make birdies on any of the par five holes and missed a number of short putts besides. Surely, if he had scored better, playing ahead of Trevor, he would have brought enormous pressure on the eventual champion. So, Tiger can not blame anyone else but himself.
One likes to think, however, that Trevor would have withstood any serious challenge. This would have resulted in a terrific contest. As it was, only if Immelman pulled a Van de Velde on the final hole (three shot lead) would he open the door to let Tiger in. The final shot to the green on the eighteenth, from a deep divot may have behaved differently if he was leading only by one. Any way, these are only conjectures and we have a very worthy champion.
Because of his recent brush with serious illness, it seems that he was able to dig really deep for courage, virtually on every shot. Did it not look as though he were in prayer as he settled his mind down before each shot? Also, as emerged from his post win interview, his family life is extremely positive and supportive; furthermore the fantastic hands on support he has received from triple Masters champion, Gary Player, who won his last title before Immelman was born, must have been a great morale booster. Incidentally for the Junior Trainees, Immelman started playing when he was five.
It will also be instructive to note that, in this century, Ernie Els, Retief Goosens, Tim Clark and Rory Sabbatini (all South Africans) have placed second in one year or another, and of course Trevor Immelman is the first South African to win this event. This will give a big boost to the game in South and Southern Africa. All this development of talent may have started when South Africa subscribed to the British PGA’s professional teaching programme. Administrators of this sport in India should kindly take note.