Immelman golfer’d up. On a day when Augusta yielded just four subpar rounds, a day when Grand Slam candidate Tiger Woods needed a birdie at No 18 just to call it a draw, Immelman pinned adversity.

He had hiccups, no doubt. He was anything but flawless. There were three bogeys and a double. There were bad lies, bad putts, bad breaks. When it was all said and done, there was a 75 on his card, not a 57.

This was not piano music and Jim Nantz prose. This was survival camp. But by the time Immelman made a poor swing and pulled a tee shot into the water at No. 16, he had stared down adversity, and adversity backed off.

“I kind of felt like I was doing OK,” said Immelman, who didn’t look at the scoreboards on Sunday. “Because even when I made a double bogey there, people were clapping for me.”

Player won three Masters. Now the toothless kid who took his words of wisdom and ran with them on Sunday has something in common with his idol. Now he is another South African with a green jacket.

“This tournament is such a big deal down in South Africa,” Immelman said. “We grow up idolizing this event. Kids dream about winning this tournament, just like I did. I still can’t believe I’m sitting here.

“I’m going to try to do all the right things and I’m going to try to be a great role model to young kids out there. You know, that’s all I can do.”

That’s exactly what Gary Player would do.

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