Immelman: Special victory
Trevor Immelman says his Masters victory was all the more special for beating the in-form Tiger Woods into second place.
All the talk before the first major of the year was about whether Woods could achieve an unprecedented Grand Slam, having already become the first man to hold all four major titles at the same time.
The world number one arrived at Augusta having won on each of his four starts in 2008, extending his winning run to seven tournaments.
However, he was denied a fourth Green Jacket by Immelman, who led from start to finish to earn a three-shot victory and his first major title.
Despite his victory, the South African remains in awe of Woods and expects him to be celebrating more major success sooner rather than later.
Mind-boggling
"The guy boggles my mind," Immelman said. "I'm an avid sports fan and I study top sportsmen. This guy is frightening in what he gets done and how he gets it done and the ease in which he gets it done.
"To win 13 majors at the age of 32 is just frightening. It's just crazy to think how many he's going to get to.
"To win a major while he's playing - and he's playing at his peak - it's a hell of an achievement. I'm not sure if I'll ever get it done again, but I'll be trying my best."
Immelman is now, of course, the only man for whom the grand slam is on this season. Next stop the US Open at Torrey Pines in California in June.
Woods, though, is a six-time winner on that course, including his last four visits, so when the Cape Town player was asked directly if he was going to win the grand slam the reply was not unexpected.
"Probably not, no," he said.
Not that he does not believe in himself to go from strength to strength now.
"It's probably too early to think about that," he added.
"I've always dreamt about winning majors and deep down I always thought I was good enough. At times you obviously doubt yourself because you miss a few putts and you screw up a few times and you're just like 'man, maybe I'm not just good enough'.
"But obviously this is a tremendous confidence boost and now that I have got one under my belt all I can do is go out there, prepare well for the majors and just try my best.
"I'm definitely not going to sit back and go 'okay, I'm done'. I'm going to keep working and try to make the most of what I've been given."
