Posted on Sun, Apr. 13, 2008

AUGUSTA, Ga. | Trevor Immelman walked up the 15th fairway and pumped his fist. There were three holes to play. But the Masters was over.

He had played smart; not been desperate or dumb. Immelman had stayed strong when everyone else at Augusta National dropped. Four players — none who entered the final round in the top 10 — shot below par Sunday.

But Immelman was in first place in the first round, and he was in first place after the final round. He shot a careful, but adequate, 3-over 75 Sunday and finished the tournament at 8-under 280.

“It’s just so damn difficult,” Immelman said. “I was just trying to be strong, and I was just trying to play my own game, and I was hoping it was going to be good enough.”

Maybe it was the wind. Contenders folded, buckling under a heap of bogeys that Immelman somehow avoided. His playing partner Sunday, Brandt Snedeker, had nine bogeys — five on the front nine. Snedeker never recovered, and it turned into a full-fledged collapse. He started the day 1 stroke behind Immelman and trailed by as many as 6.

Or maybe it was the pressure of a Sunday in Augusta. Snedeker shared his anxiety with his family, who trailed him through each round. His father, Larry Snedeker, admitted he began the tournament uncertain his son, playing in his first Masters as a pro, would make the cut.

But Sunday, Larry Snedeker was pacing from one hole to the next, turning his back while his younger son putted — he can’t bear to watch. He nursed a warm beer after the first hole, which Brandt Snedeker bogeyed, and walked toward the No. 2 tee box shaking his head.

“I’ve been better,” said a nervous Larry Snedeker, raising his beer cup. “I’m going to need a couple more of these.”

And as much as Snedeker looked rattled, Immelman looked as if he had done this a dozen times. He ignored the wind, with gusts of more than 20 miles per hour Sunday, and never let his score drop within Tiger Woods’ reach.

Woods started the final round 6 strokes behind Immelman and finished in second place, 3 shots back. He was only that close because Immelman double bogeyed No. 16, where the South African’s tee shot went into a pond. Woods said it was Immelman’s only mistake, maybe of the entire tournament.

“We figured if we shot something in the 60s,” Woods said, “we’re going to be right there with a chance to win and try to put a lot of pressure on Trevor up there. It turns out that would have been the case, but I didn’t do my part.”

Then again, only Miguel Angel Jimenez and Heath Slocum had rounds in the 60s, far fewer than previous days, when an average of seven players each day broke 70.

Snedeker tied Immelman at 10-under when he made a long putt for an eagle at No. 2. Snedeker walked from hole to hole, smiling and nodding at the gallery, hoping his Sunday curse would end.

He walked with Immelman up the hill at the 18th green, then stopped and waved Immelman past so he could soak in the final steps. Snedeker stood at the fringe for a moment before joining Immelman.

A while later, Snedeker cried so hard he had to twice interrupt his post-tournament news conference.

“You know,” Snedeker said, “it’s hard to put that much effort into something and get so little out. But it’s just part of life, part of growing up. Obviously, I need a lot more of that. It’s just tough right now.”

Immelman, though, couldn’t stop smiling. And why should he? Four months ago, doctors removed a benign tumor in his ribcage, the most recent in about a year’s worth of health problems.

Immelman was nothing but full strength for four rounds, at least sharing the lead after each one — something that hasn’t been done in 28 years. He’s also the first Masters champion from South Africa since Gary Player won his third green jacket in 1978.

By the time Immelman reached No. 15, all but three groups were finished, out of contention. They would need Immelman to have a terrific collapse to have a chance, maybe something like lining his second shot at the par 5, No. 15 into the water. He stood over the ball and hit his third shot over the creek and safely on the back of the green.

Immelman walked alone, and he pumped his fist. It was over. And he knew it.

“I still can’t believe I’m sitting in this position,” said Immelman, who missed the cut at last week’s Houston Open. “Here I am after missing the cut last week, Masters champion. It’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard of.”