Trevor

Immelman

In an email interview with PGATour.com, the 42-year-old South African was particularly appreciative of Cameron Smith’s record-setting win at the Tournament of Champions. “I was extremely proud of him,” Immelman wrote. “I’ve always thought of Cam as a great pressure player, so I felt good about his position all weekend, but Jon Rahm is such a high-class player with so many weapons, you never quite know. I will say that I think that this win against this field will be huge for Cam’s confidence. This is all the proof that he needs that he can beat anyone.” Smith’s victory was undoubtedly a boost for the Internationals, who’ll try to beat the United States for just the second time when the 14th Presidents Cup is held Sept. 20-25 at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C. But Immelman believes his team is trending the right direction, especially as 13 of the 38 players in last week’s winners-only event are vying for spots on his squad. Five of them finished inside the top 10, including Smith and Matt Jones, who was solo third. “I think it gives us a good boost,” Immelman wrote. “But really it’s just a continuation of these guys’ great play for a few years.”

As a youngster Immelman wrote a list of achievements he wanted in the game: age titles, amateur wins, this tournament, the Nedbank Challenge and the Masters. He won them all and then … almost nothing. Armchair psychology makes you wonder: What happens when you tick everything off? What comes next? Commentary was the answer for Immelman but in July he was T3 at the Scottish Open and to some extent he kept the ball rolling, making his next two cuts and then performing solidly in the Turkish Airlines Open (T47) and Nedbank Challenge (T27). This week might be a decent indicator of how serious he remains about hitting the ball.

That’s worth T6 on the live board. The 2008 Masters champion had just five pars on his card today and three of those came on par 5s. The rest was a riot of color as he birdied seven of the par 4s (10, 13, 14, 18, 3, 4 and 6) and added another par breaker at 5. However, there were mistakes too and he swallowed bogeys at 12, 15 and 1 along with two to close with at 8 and 9. Immelman is down at 442 in the world rankings but flashed a reminder of his talents when T3 at the Scottish Open in July. He’s played just once since, finishing T44 in last week’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. Today offers another really encouraging sign.

He’s been as hot as almost any golfer on tour, and his owners just have to hope that the depression he’ll suffer from not getting in won’t negatively affect his play at the Barclay’s this weekend.

We last saw the South African at the Deutsche Bank Championship on Sept. 2 when he withdrew to be with his wife and her family due to the death of her grandfather. In his debut at the Timberlake in 2010, Immelman missed the cut on the number.

Immelman withdrew from his last start outside Boston due to the death of his wife’s grandfather. Today was his first competitive round since, and it ended much better than it started. After getting a 15-footer to drop for a birdie at the first hole, he played his next 12 in birdie-free 1-over before circling birdies on four of his final five holes. The late surge included conversions of 27'2" and 13'11" at the 14th and 18th holes, respectively.

He was a Wednesday withdrawal from last week’s Transitions Championship due to recurring discomfort in his wrist. He looked pain-free today at Lake Nona where he and partner Ian Poulter posted a 6-under-par 32-34=66 for Team Albany. Immelman remains committed to this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Considering the South African finished T11 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in his last start before the Masters, his form may suggest that he has a chance. Since his win, he has not finished outside the top 20 in the Masters.

He hit only 10 greens and took 30 putts, exchanging three birdies for four bogeys. His highlights occurred at the third and eighth holes where he converted birdies from 22'2" and 23'2", respectively. Afterwards, he shared an update on his wrist on Twitter, writing: “The wrist has held up quite well after playing the last 3 days, hopefully I can start getting some momentum going.” That is great news in advance of the Masters in two weeks.