Trevor takes Nedbank Challenge
3 December 2007Trevor Immelman survived a nervous closing run of three successive bogeys to win the Nedbank Golf Challenge by one stroke from an equally jittery Justin Rose at Sun City on Sunday.
The two players played out a fascinating duel throughout the event and, despite their difficulties in the final round, they finished well clear of the rest of the field.
Immelman, the son of Sunshine Tour Commissioner Johan Immelman, said playing in a big tournament in front of South Africans fans had been a wonderful experience.
'Just unbelievable'
"It was just unbelievable," he explained. "I now know how the rugby players feel when they play test matches in South Africa and they are beating the best teams. It was fantastic.
"Right from the first hole people were shouting my name out and offering encouragement. Even when I was making mistakes there on the back nine the fans were really behind me. I have never had a feeling like that.
"As a South African, we spend most of our time traveling abroad to play in the biggest events and so when you are winning it - and Ernie (Els) and Retief (Goosen) will testify to this - when you are winning a tournament overseas, you are not getting quite the same support, people are really proud and happy for you, but you are not quite getting the same support.
'Very thankful'
"But to come here and win the tournament...that 18th green is packed with so many people and they really are rooting for you, and they are happy for you, and they want you to win, it is a feeling that I never had before and something that I am very thankful for.
"I do not have the vocabulary to describe it, but it was just fantastic, and I am so thankful for the support that everybody gave me this week.
"I felt it right from when I arrived here on Monday, and obviously they are supporting all the South Africans, but once I started playing well, the guys were getting behind me."
Stunning start
Almost from the start, the tournament was about Immelman and Johannesburg-born Rose, with Immelman getting off to a stunning start by racing to six-under-par over the outward nine of the first round.
He cooled off on the inward nine to share the first round lead with Adam Scott on five-under-par 67. Rose lurked just one shot back.
After two rounds Immelman and Rose were tied for the lead on 13-under 131 after the South African fired a 66 and Rose a tournament’s best seven-under 65.
Both players carded 67s in the third round, leaving them on 16-under 200, with Ernie Els five shots back in third.
Tough fourth round
Conditions proved tougher in the final round as
only Rory Sabbatini, Geoff Ogilvy and Stewart Cink went under par with rounds of 71. Immelman’s level-par 72, however, proved just enough to edge out Rose, who closed with a 73.
During the final round, Immelman twice chipped in to move two strokes ahead of a shaky Rose with just three holes to play but, instead of slamming the door, he proceeded to make three successive bogeys on the run-in to the 18th green to allow Rose to cling to a chance of victory.
Fortunately for the South African, in golf's emulation of rugby's World Cup Final, the Englishman's touch also deserted him and Immelman was eventually able to claim the $1.2-million cheque, the biggest of his career, with a scrappy one-over five at the last to Rose's double-bogey six.
Best golf of 2007
Interviewed after his victory, Immelman admitted he has watched every single Nedbank Golf Challenge, either live or recorded, but joked he wasn't sure he would watch his last three
holes. The first three rounds, though, he said he wouldn't mind watching because it was the best golf he has played in 2007.
Despite the struggles of the leaders, third-placed Ernie Els was unable to make any headway, carding a level-par 72, which effectively turned the battle for the title into a match play contest.
Henrik Stenson, who finished runner-up to Jim Furyk in 2006, settled for fourth this time around, with Rory Sabbatini finishing in fifth spot.
Geoff Ogilivy and Luke Donald tied for sixth, Adam Scott ended eighth, Niclas Fasth ninth, Charl Schwartzel tenth, Stewart Cink eleventh, and Retief Goosen twelfth.
Immelman's win was the seventh by a Southern African in the event after Mark McNulty (1986), Fulton Allem (1988), David Frost (1989, 1990, 1992), Nick Price (1993, 1997, 1998), Ernie Els (1999, 2000, 2002) and Retief Goosen (2004).
Top golf to come
He'll be in action on South African soil again in less than
two weeks at the South African Airways Open, the second oldest Open championship in the world.
After wins in 2003 and 2004, Immelman will be aiming for a hat-trick of titles in the national open, but he faces a strong field of challengers.
Three other players who contested the Nedbank Challenge – Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, and Charl Schwartzel – have entered. The field also includes SA stars Tim Clark, Anton Haig and Richard Sterne, US Open champion Angel Cabrera, and former world number one Greg Norman.
Spectators at the Pearl Valley Golf Estate are in for a treat.
Leaderboard
SAinfo reporter and Sunshine Tour
