Dan O'Neill

AUGUSTA, Ga. - Trevor Immelman and Gary Player go way back.

“I first met him when I was 5 years old, at my home club in Somerset West (South Africa),” said Immelman, moments after winning the 72^nd Masters Tournament. “I have a great picture — he picked me up and put me on his shoulders, I have no teeth. That was the first time I met him.”

Over the years, Player took an interest in the little kid with the toothless grin, the kid who idolized him, the kid who couldn’t get enough of golf. Immelman’s family did everything they could to support the little bugger, made sacrifices, provided opportunities.

“I just fell in love with the game,” Immelman, 28, said. “It’s all I wanted to do. That’s what I told my parents, I wanted to play professional golf as a living. So my parents facilitated that.”

And Player never forgot the meeting. He too recognized there was something about the toothless youngster, something passionate, something promising. He too fanned the flames.

“He kept writing me notes and he kept answering my calls and my letters to him,” Immelman said. “He was always there for support and advice. And after I turned pro, he was there for a kick in the butt when I wasn’t playing well or he saw something that he didn’t like.

“He’s been, you know, kind of like another type of father for me. To have somebody like that for support is just incredible.”

And when Immelman faced the biggest day of his golfing life, when he left the Augusta National grounds on Saturday evening holding a 54-hole lead in the season’s first major championship, his mentor was there for him again.

“He left me a voice mail last night,” Immelman said. “I got it when I was leaving the premises, and it gave me goose bumps. He told me he unfortunately had to leave — he’s on his way to the Middle East to do something over there. And he said he wouldn’t be able to watch the coverage.

“But he told me he believed in me and I needed to believe in myself. He told me I had to keep my head a little quieter when I putt … he told me to just go out there and be strong through adversity. Because he said adversity would come today, and I had to deal with it.”

“I took that all to heart and I’m obviously very thankful. I’m sure he’s proud of me.”

Adversity? Yes, there has been adversity, adversity in spades. Last spring, Immelman was sick with a virus that robbed him of his strength and melted 22 pounds off his frame. Later in the year, he discovered a nagging pain in his chest was a tumor. In December, he underwent surgery to remove the mass from his diaphragm.

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“That was probably tougher for my family,” Immelman said. “I was just so out of it at the time, that you could have shot me in the leg and I wouldn’t have known it.”

The scare diminished when the tumor proved benign. Unfortunately, Immelman's game also was diminished and benign as recovery was slow. Immelman missed another cut at the Shell Houston Open in the first week of April. A tie for 40^th had been his best finish in the past four starts.

Then came this magical, unexpected week at Augusta. Suddenly, Immelman’s picture book swing had rhythm and balance. Suddenly, he was back to his 2006 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year form. Suddenly, he was posting rounds of 68-68-69 on the board and attempting to win his first major, wire to wire.

Suddenly, he was where he always dreamed he might be. Adversity? Of course there would be adversity. How could it be any other way.

“You know, when I woke up this morning, and I peaked outside and saw the trees moving around, I knew it was going to be tough out there,” Immelman said. “I knew I had to go out there and just stick to my game plan … and just be tough.”

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