Masters 2008: Immelman holds off Tiger to win green jacket

April 14, 2008 by Pete Teevens

Trever Immelman completed a journey that won’t soon be forgotten. Four months ago he was in a South African hospital recovering from a benign tumor that doctors removed from his diaphragm, today he is the 2008 Masters champion.

It wasn’t an easy road as Sunday’s final round was met with difficult weather conditions. The strong wind added to the pressure and made every shot that much more difficult. Of the 45 players competing in the final round only four were able to finish under par. Immelman finished the final round at three over 75.

Tiger Woods came in second after finishing even on Sunday. When Woods hit the clubhouse, Immelman was on sixteen and was up five shots. It looked like he would coast to the win, but then thing got interesting.

Immelman hit his tee shot into the water on sixteen. After taking a few moments to compose himself, he was able to hit a good shot after the penalty and finished the hole with a double boogie.

Immelman now lead by three with two holes to go. After hitting a good tee shot on seventeen, Immelman’s approach shot landed in the sand trap to the right of the green. The first South African since Gary Player to win the Masters was able to make a great shot out of the bunker to save par and coast to the green jacket.

Woods will probably wonder what could have been for weeks. He had several chances to make birdies that would have pulled him closer and perhaps even ahead. In the end Woods was denied his fifth green jacket because of his inability to make puts we’ve all seen him and expect him to make.

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