Immelman feels no pain
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Trevor Immelman has enough perspective to keep him from getting carried away by a mere two good days at the Masters. Then again, he greatly appreciates it. This is a man who knows the value of two days.
Just this past December, he had to wait two days to find out what kind of life he had. Two days it took, after surgery to remove a Titleist-size tumor from his diaphragm, to determine if it was malignant.
“You know, they were pumping me so full of stuff just to try and get over the pain that I don’t think it really mattered to me what the result was at that point,” the 28-year-old South African, who has a 6-inch scar on his back, said with a smile.
The tumor was found to be benign, allowing him to start the rehabilitation that brought him where he was Friday – 8 under par, in first by a stroke, halfway through the Masters.
Of course, he was asked the obvious questions after he capped off a second consecutive 68 with birdies on the tough par-4 17th and 18th holes. He was asked if someone has a new perspective after going through what he has gone through.
Yes and no, said the golfer who made five birdies and one bogey Friday to maintain a one-stroke lead over Brandt Snedeker and a three-shot lead over Phil Mickelson, Steve Flesch and Ian Poulter.
“That’s a tough one, you know, because I’m so competitive and I’ve played this game since I was 5 years old and all I ever wanted to do was win golf tournaments,” Immelman said. “So I kind of felt like this was a speed bump, really. But I realized it can get taken away from you real fast.”
One minute, you’re winning the prestigious Nedbank Golf Challenge in your home country, the next – or at least a few weeks later – he was in a bed at Vergelegen Medi-Clinic, having a surgeon pry between his 10th and 11th ribs to reach the tumor.
“I count myself fortunate because two weeks prior to that, I was on a three-week trip to China,” he said. “But I was in my hometown, and I had my childhood doctor there who diagnosed the whole thing.”
He was solid in the breezeless morning. He sure was better than Tiger Woods, who had a rocky 71 and is 1 under. Immelman also was much better than his Orlando, Fla., neighbor Justin Rose (2 over), who followed his usual first-round lead with a crashing 78 that included an 8 on the par-5 15th.
Countryman Gary Player said that Immelman’s swing is as close as he has seen to Ben Hogan’s. Of course, Player, 72, does tend to get emotional, such as kissing the ground after finishing his 51st Masters with a remarkable 78 and announcing he will play again next year.
Still there is no denying Immelman being good and gutsy. He was the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year in 2006 (one year before Snedeker won the award). Plus, he had the fortitude to make the cut here last year despite contracting a stomach ailment, possibly a parasite, that caused him to lose 25 pounds.
He is proof that there is room in this tradition-drenched major championship for new blood, at least two days of it.
Snedeker shone with creativity that was highlighted by a 40-foot chip for birdie on the par-3 sixth – from the green. He couldn’t putt because the fringe jutted out on his line, so he took a swing with his lob wedge and sent the ball sailing and rolling in, all without having taken a divot.
“It’s a yip, is pretty much what it is,” he said after shooting 68. “I knew there were 100 members worried when I took out the lob wedge, but the green is no worse for the wear.”
Immelman is no worse for his wear, either. He is over those first few post-surgery swings, over the fears about missing his baby son’s youth, over the worries about every twinge, done with half the Masters and ahead of the field. Only two days to go.