New perspective for Immelman

THE DIAGNOSIS came last December, a day that put life into perspective for Trevor Immelman. He had just returned home to South Africa from a three-week tour of duty in China, and, feeling unwell, he paid a visit to the same doctor who once had cared for nicks and scrapes and childhood illnesses.

But this was serious. Within two days, after a series of MRI scans, Immelman was admitted to the Vergelegen Medi-Clinic in his home town of Somerset to undergo surgery on a tumour.

Thankfully for Immelman, it proved to be benign. But the surgery left him with a seven-inch incision on the right side of his back, and weeks before he would be able to swing a golf club.

Of that worrying time spent in hospital, Immelman - who shot back-to-back 68s to reach the midpoint of the Masters at Augusta National on 136, eight-under - recalled yesterday, "They were pumping me so full of stuff just to try and get over the pain that I don't think it really mattered to me what the result (of the operation) was at that point . . . . We were real thrilled when we found out that it was just some rare type of benign tumour.

"The first few weeks out on tour, every tweak and every ache, my mind was wondering. At this point, I feel normal."

The get-well calls came thick and fast. From Sergio Garcia. From Retief Goosen. From Ernie Els and Tim Clark. The recuperation was slow.

"It took me a couple of weeks before I could walk again. It was about six weeks before I could hit a few chips and putts, another week before I could get back out on the course. I was operating quite gingerly."

He remembers his first day back on a course, at Lake Nona in Florida, where he is based. "I went home to my wife and said, 'I don't know what's going on'. I was skulling them and doffing them . . . The orders were to take it day to day, and if I felt pain then I was to stop. But four or five days later, I started making half-swings."

Now, over four months later, it all seems like a bad dream. But it has given him a perspective on life, which has manifested itself inside the ropes here for the past two days where he has incurred just one bogey in 36 holes.

Should we be surprised? Not in the slightest. Ever since he first took a club in his hands, at the age of five, Immelman has displayed a terrific talent. It was evident as an amateur when he won the US Public Links championship (which earned him a ticket to the 1999 Masters, when he made the cut); it was clear in 2004, when he successfully defended the South African Open, the first player since Gary Player in 1977 to achieve the feat; it was plain to see in 2006, when he was named rookie of the year on the US Tour, winning the famed Western Open along the way.

After that 2006 season, observers were hailing him as the in-form South African on tour. Better than Ernie; better than Retief. "Those are big shoes to fill, literally and figuratively. Those guys have won five majors between them. I never felt like I surpassed them in stuff that we achieved, and until I win more majors than the two of them, I won't think I am a better player."

There was no evidence prior to Augusta that Immelman could hit this type of form. His appearances this season have been few and far between, his best place in a 72-hole strokeplay event coming with a tied-40th finish in the CA World Championship last month.

But Augusta has brought out the best in him in the past. In 2005, he shot a 65, the low round of the tournament, in eventually finishing tied-fifth. In compiling yesterday's second successive 68, Immelman birdied the final two holes, holing from 15 feet on the 17th and from 10 feet on the 18th.

"There's a very long way to go. I can't sit back and put my feet up. I've just got to go out there and play as well as I can for the next couple of days. The illness has given me a new perspective. I went from winning a tournament to lying in a hospital bed. It made me realise that golf was not my entire life."