Trevor Immelman's second straight 68 good for one-shot Masters lead

From WorldGolf.com News Services

Less than four months ago, golf was understandably about the last thing on Trevor Immelman's mind.

Last December, Immelman was lying in a hospital bed with a seven-inch incision in his lower back after having surgery to remove a mass on his diaphragm. Even the medication he was given by doctors to make him comfortable couldn't completely wipe out the concern as the 28-year-old South African and his family waited to hear whether or not the tumor removed was cancerous.

The story has a happy ending. Immelman found out the tumor was benign, but the effect it had on his life remains with him.

"It definitely gives you perspective because I went from winning a tournament to lying in a hospital bed waiting for results on a tumor," Immelman told reporters Friday after his second consecutive round of 4-under-par 68, giving him a one-shot lead in the Masters. "So [it] definitely made me realize that golf wasn't my whole life."

However, as his health slowly returned, Immelman also realized that golf was a big part of his life. He wasn't ready to let his career go by the wayside after his health scare.

"I have a real passion for golf and I put a lot of hours in and made a lot of sacrifices to try and succeed at the game," Immelman said. "I'm definitely driven to try and achieve things, so whilst it gave me perspective on the one point, I was still trying to get back to the form I was showing before it all happened."

Immelman's return has come on the grandest of stages the past two days at Augusta National Golf Club. At 8 under for the tournament, he leads Brandt Snedeker by a shot and is seven shots ahead of pre-tournament favorite Tiger Woods.

That's a pretty remarkable feat for a guy who didn't return to PGA Tour competition until the FBR Open in late January and has missed the cut in four of his last seven stroke-play starts. His best finish of 2008, with the exception of a 17th-place tie in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, was a tie for 40th in the CA Championship at Doral.

"It's incredible," friend and fellow competitor Ian Poulter told reporters when asked about Immelman's performance. "It was a shock to everyone he had to go in for surgery.

"He's bounced back pretty quickly, so it shows how committed he is to getting fit and practicing hard and that's obviously what he's done to get ready for Augusta."

It certainly wasn't an easy road back.

"It was about six weeks before I could hit a few chips and putts and another week before I could hit some balls and get out on to the course," said Immelman, who birdied Nos. 17 and 18 to finish with five birdies against a lone bogey at No. 6 in round two. "So it was a couple of months that I was operating quite gingerly."

Even with how far he's come, Immelman said he isn't satisfied. He admits to still feeling the pressure that comes with being in position to capture his first major tournament — even if pressure on the golf course now comes with a different perspective.

"You definitely feel pressure, but I feel pressure playing for a hundred bucks against a mate, so that's the beauty of the game," Immelman said. "The thing is, you've just got to go out there and play as well as you can play. And the other thing you've also got to realize is that the best players in the world get nervous and they feel pressure. I guess it's just who can disguise it the best and who can handle it the best."

Like Immelman, Snedeker also closed with a birdie-birdie finish to stand alone in second place. Phil Mickelson rallied with a 68 to enter the weekend tied for third with Steve Flesch and Poulter, three shots off the pace.

Woods will now need to pull off one of the largest comebacks in Masters history or his quest for a Grand Slam that he said he felt was "easily in reason" in 2008 will be foiled. The four-time Masters champion had four birdies, but also made three bogeys to finish at 71 and is tied for 13th.

Justin Rose, who was tied for the first-round lead with Immelman, shot a second-round 78 and dropped into a tie for 29th place.

The shot of the day arguably belonged to Snedeker. The 2007 PGA Tour rookie of the year was on the green on No. 6, but opted to use a wedge to chip and watched his shot find the bottom of the cup.

"Only chance I had was chipping it and trying to spin it a little bit," Snedeker said. "And 10 or 12 feet away, it was going to be a great shot, and it came off absolutely perfect, tracking the whole way."

April 12, 2008