Trevor Immelman became the latest recipient of the famed Green Jacket last night, heading the Masters field with a four-round total of 280 (-8).
In doing so, the South African became the first ‘wire-to-wire’ Masters champion since Raymond Floyd led from start to finish back in 1976. The feat was made all the more remarkable by the fact that Immelman has not long recovered from surgery on a benign tumour in his diaphragm, and his form leading into the year’s first Major had understandably been decidedly patchy.
In the final analysis, a three-over par final round of 75 was enough for a three shot winning margin over Tiger Woods, whose well-publicised dreams of achieving an unprecedented calendar-year Grand Slam must now wait until 2009 at least.
Unheralded overnight challengers Brandt Snedeker – with his flowing blond locks, a dead ringer for legendary Czech footballer Pavel Nedved, it must be noted – and left-hander Steve Flesch fell away from contention; posting scores of 77 and 78 respectively. And the much-vaunted British challenge faltered too – with Paul Casey, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood all sliding irretrievably down the leaderboard before they had even reached the turn.
Immelman and Snedeker, together in the final group for the second day running, both started nervously – each bogeying the first. While Immelman relied on his immaculate driving to maintain momentum, Snedeker started to haemorrhage bogies. The 27-year-old from Nashville briefly enjoyed a spectacular 40-foot eagle putt on the third, but that was by the far the best it got for him during an errant front nine.
England’s Paul Casey – just four shots behind the leader as he teed off in search of his first Major victory – floundered in the blustery conditions, which seemed to disrupt his hitherto serene progress in the tournament. The nadir of Casey’s 79 came at the par-3 fourth; failure to extract his ball from one of Augusta National’s pristine white greenside bunkers at the first attempt led to a crippling double-bogey five and effectively ended the Surrey man’s challenge.
As the final pairing approached the fearsome Amen Corner – holes 11, 12 and 13 – they were met by a familiar Tiger-inspired roar. Woods’ monster putt along the 11th green rattled into the cup for a birdie and sparked hopes of a first come-from-behind Major victory to add to his sparkling CV. But, in truth, the world number one failed too often to hole the crucial five-to-ten-footers for par which have characterised his many previous successes.
It was in fact Flesch who was perhaps best placed to challenge Immelman’s superiority at this stage, but his steady brand of par-gathering was cut dramatically short when he dumped his tee shot at the short 12th straight into the water. From there on in, the 40-year-old crumbled, posting an awful back nine score of 42.
Back at the 11th, Immelman bailed out with his approach shot and his following chip got caught up in the fringe; leaving a slick, downhill putt. To then roll that putt in, against the odds, was a key momentum-saver for the South African. A bogey at the 12th was followed by a glorious pitch to two feet at the par-five 13th, where the resulting birdie (and Snedeker’s bogey following a visit to Rae’s Creek) briefly opened up a six-shot chasm between him and the chasing pack.
Immelman once more made it safely through the deceptively treacherous 15th – where his ball had defied gravity 24 hours previously; hanging precariously on the bank when a watery grave looked a certainty – but came a cropper at 16. Holding an apparently impregnable five shot advantage, his pulled tee shot plunged into the greenside water, eliciting - at least in the minds of more pessimistic observers - unedifying thoughts of yet another Major meltdown being added to the bulging ‘choked and blew it’ file; already containing notable entries from Messrs Van de Velde, Norman and Sanders, to name but a few.
A par save at 17 steadied the ship though; leaving Immelman three shots in hand with only the final hole to negotiate. Despite his misfortune in finding a deep divot with his tee shot, the 28-year-old from Cape Town hit a well-controlled second and a simple two-putt saw him over the line. His win emulates compatriot and childhood hero Gary Player – a triple winner at Augusta National – and boosts his world ranking to 15th.
At the conclusion, Snedeker and Stewart Cink (72) shared third on four under, while two-time Masters winner Phil Mickelson (72) and last year’s Open champion Padraig Harrington (also 72) ended tied fifth alongside Flesch on two under par. Malaga’s Miguel Angel Jimenez fired a best-of-the-day 68 to shoot through the field; securing an impressive share of eighth.
With only one previous US Tour victory to his name, Immelman’s well-deserved victory perhaps came ahead of schedule – to win a Major championship before your 30th birthday is a rare old feat – but followers of the Sunshine (South African) and European Tours have long noted his pedigree. One of the smoothest swings in golf, allied to the coolest of temperaments, means that yesterday’s triumph could well be the first of many.
FINAL LEADERBOARD
-8 Trevor Immelman (SA)
-5 Tiger Woods (USA)
-4 Stewart Cink (USA), Brandt Snedeker (USA)
-2 Steve Flesch (USA), Padraig Harrington (Ire), Phil Mickelson (USA)
-1 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa), Robert Karlsson (Swe), Andres Romero (Arg)
E Paul Casey (Eng), Nick Watney (USA), Lee Westwood (Eng)
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