18 Questions With ... Trevor Immelman


May 19, 2008

Since winning his first major at the Masters, Trevor Immelman has been on a whirlwind tour, which has included his first-ever trip to New York. We caught up with Immelman, the 1998 U.S. Amateur Public Links champion, recently to discuss the impact winning his first major has had on him.

In a surprising twist, Immelman said he didn't recall much from winning the '98 APL, which was the only other time the USGA held a championship at Torrey Pines. Of course, Torrey Pines is the site of this year's U.S. Open . Immelman doesn't believe he'll be a favorite because he won the APL there. He cited the course being much different than it was in '98 due to renovations made in 2001.  

Did you ever think it would be this hard after winning a major?

TrevorImmelman:   Well, you know, you practice your whole life, you practice and you dream and you just wish that you could win the Masters or the British Open or any other of the other majors. And then if you finally manage to pull it off somehow, you're so unprepared for what's to follow. And I think that you try your best to prepare for the stuff on the course, but there's no way that you could have explained to me what I was going to have to go through afterwards. And obviously what I've got to make clear maybe is that I'm not in any shape or form complaining about it. I'm just saying that it is so far from what I'm used to that it's probably going to take me a little while to get used to.

What jacket size are you?

Immelman: Forty-two regular.

Did you have to tell them that ahead of time?

Immelman:   When you go down into the Butler cabin for the presentation they have a couple different ones waiting there.

And did they make you one eventually?

Immelman:   Well, I felt like the one that they gave me there, that's the one that I still got.

How much have you worn it since you won?

Immelman:   Not all that much, really. I wore it a lot that night. And then I haven't really worn it in the last two or three weeks, really. I haven't been home enough to really get into it. At times when I've been at home I've just been trying to catch up with everything else that's going on. So that's why I look forward to having some time off and catching up on a few things.

Have you been able to just relax at all sinceAugusta, maybe take a deep breath?

Immelman: No, not really. I've been off two weeks off after [The Players]. And it's going to be nice to get home and just decompress, I guess, would be a good word, and just try and figure out what's going on and how I'm going to go about it from here.

What were some of the things that maybe surprised you about what you had to deal with after winning the Masters?

Immelman: I probably get about 30 to 40 Masters flags arriving at my house every day. I never had to deal with that problem, not that it's a problem. But you know what I mean; that kind of thing. Those are just little adjustments that I am going to have to learn to deal with and maybe take some advice on and try to figure out how the other guys go about it.

And once you win a big tournament like [the Masters], your expectation level probably rises. I've never played when I had too high of expectations because I put too much pressure on myself and go to tournaments and want to win too badly, instead of going out there and free-wheeling it a little bit more. So those are the things I'm going to need to take some time away and figure out how I'm going to go about it from here.

Are you much of a reader or TV watcher?

Immelman: I do most of my reading when I'm on the road. But when I'm at home, yeah, we do like to watch a bit of it. TV at night. Once we put the little guy to bed, we normally are watching some sport or watching something that's on TV.

Do you try to pull in soccer or rugby fromSouth Africa?

Immelman:  I definitely watch the rugby. Absolutely. I have bought into a channel that can show me all the different games I need to see.

What's your favorite team?

Immelman: The Western Stormers. Down in Cape Town and then obviously the spring bucks is the national team. But I love American sports too.  I love basketball and football.

So you are wearing green for the Celtics?

Immelman: You know obviously I [was] still kind of hoping for the Magic.

Were you?

Immelman: Yeah I followed them quite closely. And obviously they got killed in the first game. They played better in the second game.

Have you been able to carve out time to watch American Idol and do you have a favorite?

Immelman: I [do] watch Idol, yes. I've been a little disappointed with the results over the last couple weeks. Music is my biggest hobby, so it's something I'm interested in.

When do you foresee yourself going back toSouth Africa?

Immelman: Toward the end of the year. I'll be going down there for the Nedbank Challenge, so at that point I'll be heading down and meeting up with everybody down there.

The FedEx Cup television promotional spot that you did last year, obviously, now that you won the Masters. Can you talk about how that came about and what that was like to do?

Immelman: It was fun. When did we shoot that? I think we shot it toward the end of 2006, and obviously I played quite well there in 2006. So they decided to run a commercial, and when they came with the idea of Vijay [Singh] and I doing it together, I was pretty excited. I've known Vijay for a long time. He used to come and play down in South Africa 15 years ago.

He was real nice about it. We shot it in Tampa at the facility there, and we got it all said and done in about two and a half hours. We did a bunch of different takes where we were doing different things. We had a great time shooting it, and I think it came out quite well, other than my corny put-on American accent. You know, the put-on American accent is supposed to be Jim Nantz, but it didn't quite [work]. That's why I golf and don't act (laughter).

How much more recognized are you now, and has there been any one really surprising place where you've been recognized where you probably wouldn't have been a year ago?

Immelman: Yeah, obviously it's definitely kicked up a few notches. Obviously I used to be recognized at golf courses and golf clubs, but now every now and then I get spotted at a mall or something like that.

No place really weird places like Waffle House or anything like that?

Immelman: Well, I haven't been to too many Waffle Houses lately, so definitely not there. Once I take the hat off and get a real goofy hairstyle, nobody cares about it.

Do you feel like in your career that you've almost skipped a step - fromTrevorImmelman, PGA Tour member, toTrevorImmelman,Masterschampion?

Immelman: I don't really think so. I mean, I think probably a couple more Tour victories would be nice. You know, a whole bunch more would be very nice. But, you know, hey, all I know is you work your butt off, you try your best, and if you happen to win a tournament, good for you. Obviously for me, I timed my best golf on the right week there, and obviously I'm thrilled about that. I'm sure not going to give it back.