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Trevor Immelman: Flexed his muscles to claim the Masters

The first major of the year was everything we expected. There were highs and lows, spectacular shots, destructive ones and no shortage of drama amid the splendour that is Augusta National.

The week started so promisingly for our home players, yet ended in disappointment for Donald, Casey, Westwood, Poulter and Rose.

I know they have the ability to reach the top of their profession, but they have to learn to tough it out when the pressure reaches the heights it does in major tournaments.

Once one of them kicks down the major door, perhaps the rest will follow. Next stop for them will be Torrey Pines in California. That's live on Sky Sports and they have a couple of months to reflect.

The Masters champion is a worthy one. I was first introduced to Trevor Immelman by the practise range at Erinvale, just a few miles from his home at Somerset West in the Cape. That was back in 1996 a day ahead of the world cup that Ernie Els and Wayne Westner went on to win by a record margin.

Ernie told me at the time, "you will be talking about this boy very soon, and I have no doubt he will win the Masters one day. In fact you will be talking about him for some time to come."

Trevor was a member of Ernie's golf foundation. He was just 14-years-old, confident with a cheeky grin and a fabulous golf swing.

Now he has achieved something that has eluded his great mentor and becomes the first South African to win at Augusta since Gary Player, 30 years ago.

Flak

Gary took a lot of flak when he chose Trevor as one of his wild cards for the Presidents Cup a few years back, because it effectively fast-tracked Immelman on to the PGA Tour.

Many Americans were unhappy and I'll bet Gary had a chuckle when Trevor pulled on the green jacket after his wire-to-wire win. Trevor played a practise round with Gary ahead of his victory last week and Gary drummed into him that he was good enough to win.

Just before his final round, Player left a voice message on his mobile phone saying, "You will hit bad shots and you will get the odd bad break, but you will win if you are strong in adversity".

These words were heeded by Immelman, and I've no doubt they were of great comfort to him down the stretch. In a sport dominated by one man, this win is good for the game.

"The Grand Slam is achievable" said Tiger earlier this year. Quite simply, it is not. So much has to go your way and much of it you don't control. Tiger put in his usual sterling effort but for the second consecutive tournament, his putting was average.

So much is talked about Tiger's strength of mind, desire and work ethic, and it's admirable, but it is his prowess on the greens, as much as anything that has given him these multi-shot wins throughout his career.

At Doral and Augusta, Tiger was a mere mortal with the putter. You can only hit par fives and fours in two and par threes in one, after that, it's down to the putter.

What will annoy Tiger more than anything is the fact he has not come from behind in the final round to win a major. That statistic remains a mystery.

This week the European Tour is back on its travels again and China plays host to the first of two events in the next fortnight. All four days of the TCL Classic are live in the early morning with repeats and extensive analysis on Golf Night.

Tips

I see my tips for the Masters were as expected: poor.

Thanks to those who wrote in with their favourites as interaction is part of what skysports.com is about.

Harrington saved my blushes with his usual professional performance. Goosen's final round 76 was disappointing.

Tim B was correct remembering I said last year that Andres Romero was Europe's finest putter, and if Tim had a bet on the Argentine player, then he got a good run for his money.

Dan Reed thought Jim Furyk was a sure bet for a top five finish, but Jim has had putting problems this year and that proved too much of a hurdle.

Back to our day jobs I guess boys, until the US Open that is!

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