Masters champ comes of age

 

When Trevor Immelman packs his suitcase for next year’s Dubai Desert Classic, it’s a pretty safe bet that his newly acquired Green Jacket will take pride of place among his shorts and T-shirts.

 

The South African golfer, fresh from his Masters triumph in Augusta, admits he is eager to visit the UAE as soon as possible after missing out on the event at the Emirates Golf Club last January.

 

 “It’s a very exciting time for the area,” he says from his base in Orlando. “We’ve seen some incredible golf courses built there in the last few years, and obviously the weather conditions are perfect, so I see the region as very important for the future of the game. There’s no doubt the courses are good enough to compete with the world’s best.

 

“The courses that I’ve played in Dubai are absolutely fantastic and I’ve always enjoyed the desert-style golf that they offer. I’ve played some of the best golf courses I’ve ever played in that region.”

 

With The Els Club in the Dubai Sports City having opened its doors to the public last week, Immelman says he is keen for the chance to play it. “I must speak to Ernie about that because he hasn’t invited me to go and see his facility there.

 

“But that’s definitely a goal of mine too, to get involved in some way in designing some courses there. I’ve got a couple of projects under my belt and I would definitely love to get involved in designing some courses in that region.

 

“As professional golfers, what we need to do is grow the sport as much as we can and try to allow youngsters easy access to the sport. I think that’s what Leisure Corp and the guys down there are doing by building golf courses in the Middle East. But not just the Middle East, targeting that area [Dubai] is fantastic.”

 

Immelman’s desire to provide a platform for the next generation of golfers is easy to understand. Still only 28 years old – he became the youngest winner of the Masters since Tiger Woods’ second triumph in 2001, aged 25 – he was hailed as a future star when he joined the amateur circuit in the late 1990s.

 

In 1997, his South African Amateur championship was coupled with success at the US Amateur Public Links championship and, by the time he went to Kent to contest the Amateur Championship at Royal St George’s, he was attracting much media hype.

 

With Immelman through to the final at the prestigious event, a now infamous phone call home before the match gave an insight into the type of person he was back then. “I’ll call you after I’ve won,” the cocksure teenager remarked. He went on to lose, and a reputation of having too much of an ego to make his mark on the gentleman’s game was born.

 

“I thought a lot of that was unfair at the time, to be honest,” says Immelman. “I think the situation I found myself in at the time was quite an interesting one because I was so young and achieving so many things on the South African Amateur circuit, and especially as I was playing golf in my teens against older guys.

 

“Normally if you’re playing rugby at 15, you’re still going to be playing in an Under-16 team. But here I was playing golf at 16 and winning the South African Amateur against any other amateur in the country who wanted to compete. It was a weird situation for everybody – an uneasy one – and that’s why people thought I came across a little bit arrogant at times. I never intended for people to think of me like that, but I do think it’s very important for young people not to worry about things too much.”

 

Perhaps the criticism levelled at the young Immelman slowed his rise to the top of the sport. Since his early amateur success, he added only three European Tour titles and a solitary victory on the PGA Tour. “I definitely think it affected me for a time. I couldn’t always understand why people had those feelings about me because how many kids do you know who don’t believe in themselves at that age? When you’re that age you feel bullet-proof. If a guy comes up to you and says ‘I bet you can’t throw a ball at that post-box and hit it’, when you’re that age you’re like ‘what do you mean? I’m going to do it just to show you’. And that was my mindset.”

 

As Immelman talks openly about his past, it becomes apparent the young, brash golfer of the late 1990s has had a lot of growing up to do. His reason for missing this year’s Desert Classic would have contributed to that.

 

Within days of winning the Nedbank Challenge in his homeland last December, Immelman was undergoing emergency surgery to have a tumour removed from behind his ribcage. Thankfully it was benign and the golfer with one of the best swings in the game was back on the course within weeks.

 

“It was a strange time going through the surgery and doing all the rehab and recovery on that. I had to put a lot of effort into my game to try to feel comfortable on the golf course again and hit the same shots I used to hit. It’s been a frustrating time for me and my wife will attest to that. I’ve probably been like a bear with a sore head at times wondering if I was ever going to get back to that same level.”

 

Throughout the conversation, he repeatedly makes reference to Carmenita, his childhood sweetheart who stood by him when he moved to England and struggled to fulfil his early potential. It is obvious that she is another reason why we see a more levelheaded Immelman on the PGA Tour now.

 

“I remember those days in London like they were yesterday,” he says. “The start was pretty miserable. You’re a long way from home and you’re only 19 years old, so you’re still a kid and it was definitely lonely. But a couple of years later I was fortunate to have my girlfriend at the time – now my wife – quit her job, come over from South Africa and stay with me.

 

“At that point we rented our first place in Richmond and she used to travel the Tour and keep me company. She helped me out so much and it obviously made things a lot easier to have someone to share the whole experience with. So as I’ve grown up and got more experiences in life – got married and had a kid – I’ve learned more things about myself and how to handle everything that goes on.”

 

That now involves having the world’s attention on him again as the 72nd Masters champion. He says things have understandably been “pretty busy” since the win but, if the new modest and mature Immelman wants to shy away from the cameras, he can seek refuge under that new Green Jacket of his.