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After his first major championship, which came at the 2008 Masters, Trevor Immelman has enjoyed a new level of fame.

The Associated Press reports, "One day after becoming the Masters champion, Immelman was courtside at Madison Square Garden for the Boston Celtics’ 99-93 victory over the New York Knicks. He was invited to the Celtics’ locker room at halftime by coach Doc Rivers, who wanted his team to shake hands with a champion."

While in New York, the young South African spoke with David Letterman. TGC.com states, "The topic was 'Ways Trevor Immelman’s Life Has Changed Since Winning the Masters.' The list included:
10. I’ve been elevated from 'unknown' to 'obscure.'
6. President Bush called to congratulate me on winning Wimbledon.
5. When my caddy recommends a club I can say, 'Excuse me, how many Masters have you won?'
1. Get to put my arm around Tiger Woods and say, 'Maybe next year.'"

Posted by Golf Champ at 6:22 PM | 0 comments    

Labels: PGA Tour 2008, the Masters

On the 30th annieversary of Gary Player's last Masters victory (and the last time a South African won), Player's fellow countryman took home a green jacket. Immelman was able to survive tough weather on Sunday, and defended the lead from playing partner Brandt Snedeker and a frustrated Tiger Woods.

Following a 16th hole failure (after Immelman left his tee shot on the par 3 in the water, which led to double bogey), Immelman found himself in trouble again on the 17th. With a three stroke lead in jeopardy, Immelman, called "the best bunker player" by Gary Player, was able to get up-and-down for a clutch par.

Possibly the most memorable fortune Immelman had during the 2008 Masters came on Saturday on the final hole of Amen Corner, when Immelman's ball, after backspinning off the green, miraculously stopped on a steep slope heading into water.

Posted by Golf Champ at 7:35 PM | 0 comments    

Labels: the Masters

2:30 - Brandt Snedeker and Trevor Immelman tee off on Augusta's first hole. Immelman lands his tee shot in the woods; Snedeker slices into the crowd on his approach to the first grren. The chase is on.
2:38 - Snedeker and Immelman both complete Augusta National's first hole; bogey, bogey.
2:44 - Stewart Cink, playing with Tiger Woods, drains a short birdie putt on the second hole for two consecutive birdies. Cink is within four of leaders, Woods is five back.
4:54 - All players have finished the first 9 holes. Trevor Immelman finishes at 10 under par with 9 to play. However, Steve Flesch, one hole ahead, is at 8 under, and Immelman's Sunday partner Brandt Snedeker has struggled to 7 under. In fourth, Tiger finds himself 6 strokes behind the leader with a score of 4 under.
6:54 - Trevor Immelman, on the par 3 16th, loses his five stroke lead over Snedeker in second place after a double bogey. Snedeker also 3 putts for bogey on the 16th, which droped Snedeker from 5 under to 4 under. Almost simultaneously, a frustrated Tiger Woods drained a birdie putt on 18 to take sole possession of second place. With two holes left, Immelman has a three stroke advantage over Tiger, four over Snedeker.
7:10 - After slicing his first shot, and then dumping his approach in a bunker, Immelman finishes the 17th hole with a par. Tiger trails by three, Immelman must only survive the 18th.
7:14 - Immelman stripes his drive down the 18th fairway. No trouble in sight. However, Snedeker must navigate his approach from deep rough.
7:19 - Camera reveals Immelman's drive settled in a deep divot in the center of the fairway.
7:20 - Immelman lands his approach on the center of the 18th green from 150 yards out.
7:25 - Immelman safely rolls his first putt to within 3 feet of the hole.
7:26 - Finishes the 2008 Masters with a par, which places Immelman 3 strokes ahead of Tiger.

Posted by Golf Champ at 2:32 PM | 0 comments    

Labels: the Masters

With several days of nearly pristine conditions for low scoring, Sunday the 2008 Masters appears to be headed in a different direction.

Posted by Golf Champ at 11:44 AM | 0 comments    

Labels: the Masters, Tiger Woods

All times are Eastern.

Posted by Golf Champ at 11:32 AM | 0 comments    

Labels: the Masters

By now, you have probably seen the leaderboard for the 2008 Masters. Trevor Immelman distanced himself from the field, walking into the clubhouse after a stellar birdie on the 18th at 11 under par for 54 holes.

Posted by Golf Champ at 12:31 AM | 0 comments    

Labels: Major Championships, the Masters

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Here are the pairings and tee times for Saturday's third round of The Masters. All times listed are Eastern:

Posted by Golf Champ at 10:00 AM | 0 comments    

Labels: Major Championships, the Masters

While Immelman continued to go low on Thursday at the Masters, history was made for at least one golfer. Fred Couples, who won his green jacket in the 1992 Masters, missed his first cut at the event.

After 23 consecutive cuts made at Augusta National, a 36 hole score of four over par left Couples outside the cut line by one strokes. Couples beat his Thursday score of 76 with a solid Friday 72, but was not able to make it to three over.

Posted by Golf Champ at 9:58 AM | 0 comments    

Labels: the Masters

As Tiger Woods and Jerry Kelly prepare to tee off, several scores have been posted.

Posted by Golf Champ at 1:10 PM | 0 comments    

Labels: Major Championships, the Masters

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Tee times for the second round of the 2008 Masters Tournament.

All times are Eastern.

8:00 a.m. -- Todd Hamilton, Brian Bateman
8:11 a.m. -- Craig Stadler, Johnson Wagner, Steve Flesch
8:22 a.m. -- Ian Woosnam, Richard Green, Stephen Ames
8:33 a.m. -- Boo Weekley, Trevor Immelman, Sean O'Hair
8:44 a.m. -- Sandy Lyle, John Rollins, J.B. Holmes
8:55 a.m. -- Soren Hansen, Daniel Chopra, Richard Sterne
9:06 a.m. -- Tom Watson, Brandt Snedeker, John Senden
9:17 a.m. -- Tim Clark, David Toms, Niclas Fasth
9:28 a.m. -- Raymond Floyd, a-Drew Weaver, Jonathan Boyd
9:39 a.m. -- Bernhard Langer, Prayad Marksaeng, Woody Austin
9:50 a.m. -- Bubba Watson, Sergio Garcia, Mark Calcavecchia
10:12 a.m. -- Adam Scott, Paul Casey, Retief Goosen
10:23 a.m. -- Vijay Singh, Steve Stricker, Stewart Cink
10:34 a.m. -- Phil Mickelson, Andres Romero, K.J. Choi
10:45 a.m. -- Ernie Els, Shingo Katayama, Jim Furyk
10:56 a.m. -- Aaron Baddeley, Camilo Villegas, Lee Westwood
11:07 a.m. -- Ben Curtis, Shaun Micheel
11:18 a.m. -- Fuzzy Zoeller, Brett Wetterich, Heath Slocum
11:29 a.m. -- Mark O'Meara, a-Trip Kuehne, Ian Poulter
11:40 a.m. -- Larry Mize, Peter Lonard, Hunter Mahan
11:51 a.m. -- Gary Player, Miguel Angel Jimenez, D.J. Trahan
12:02 p.m. -- Justin Leonard, Charles Howell III, Nick Watney
12:24 p.m. -- Scott Verplank, Robert Allenby, Michael Campbell
12:35 p.m. -- Ben Crenshaw, a-Michael Thompson, Nick O'Hern
12:46 p.m. -- Steve Lowery, Robert Karlsson, Nick Dougherty
12:57 p.m. -- Fred Couples, Jerry Kelly, Anders Hansen
1:08 p.m. -- Vaughn Taylor, Martin Kaymer, Arron Oberholser
1:19 p.m. -- Jose Maria Olazabal, Liang Wen-chong, Rory Sabbatini
1:30 p.m. -- Zach Johnson, Luke Donald, Geoff Ogilvy
1:41 p.m. -- Mike Weir, Padraig Harrington, Jeev Milkha Singh
1:52 p.m. -- Tiger Woods, Angel Cabrera, Stuart Appleby
2:03 p.m. -- Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson, Toru Taniguchi

Posted by Golf Champ at 10:53 PM | 0 comments    

Labels: Major Championships, the Masters

After the first day of play at Augusta National, which began with an opening shot by legend Arnold Palmer (Right), the leaderboard has been left crowded. Despite difficult weather conditions in the morning (which led to a fog delay), two international players have found themselves tied for the lead at four under par: South African Trevor Immelman and Englishman Justin Rose (Left).

Surprsingly, many of the PGA Tour's heavy hitters are looking up at a group of less successful, but extremely talented young leaders. In addition to the four under lead of Rose and Immelman, Brian Bateman, Brandt Snedeker, and Lee Westwood trail by one with rounds of 69.

Defending champion Zach Johnson is within striking distance after the first day of play following a two under 70 to place Johnson in a tie for sixth place. Fellow American Jim Furyk is also tied at two under as he seeks his first green jacket.

Tiger Woods finished a "sluggish" round of 70, which, of course, places Tiger four behind the leaders. However, as Tiger has done in the past, an early deficit often does not continue into the weekend.

Also worth noting, the field's top amateur after the Thursday is American Michael Thomson, who is currently in a tie for 33rd place and in position to play on the weekend at one over par. Fellow amateur Drew Weaver is also on the bubble after a four over par first round, which has placed him in a tie for 65th.

Posted by Golf Champ at 9:59 PM | 0 comments    

Labels: Major Championships, PGA Tour 2008, the Masters

After a heavy fog delay on Thursday at the 2008 Masters, Tiger Woods opened with a slightly slow start.

The four time Masters champions shot even par, 72, which put him four behind the tournament leaders on the opening day of play.

Posted by Golf Champ at 6:04 PM | 0 comments    

Labels: Major Championships, the Masters, Tiger Woods

South African Rory Sabbatini claimed the 2008 Masters Par 3 Championship (the first time the event has been televised). Sabbatini, who played the course in 5 under par, will now face the challenge of becoming the first Par 3 Champion to win the actual tournament.

Of course, players enjoyed this event while allowing their children or friends to loop during the day.

Also a highlight of Wednesday's play, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Gary Player were together in a dream threesome for Augusta National's Patrons.

Posted by Golf Champ at 5:54 PM | 0 comments    

Labels: Major Championships, the Masters

While the Masters has long been a media focus within and outside of the realm of golf, ESPN has made an attempt to capture the magic of an untapped event: the Masters' annual Par 3 competition. On Wednesday, ESPN will provide footage of the event beginning at 3:00 PM (EST).

Posted by Golf Champ at 9:50 PM | 0 comments    

Labels: Major Championships, PGA Tour 2008, the Masters, Tiger Woods

After a long break from the blogosphere, I am ready to begin actively writing for ZealousGolfer.com, once again. Of course, as one of the greatest events in sport is set to be contested this week, I saw no better time to begin writing on golf again.

Welcome back.

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The first round pairing has been published for the 2008 Masters:

First Round Tee Times - 04/08/200
By Associated Press
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Tee times for the opening round of the 2008 Masters Tournament.
All times are Eastern.

8:00 a.m. -- Ben Curtis, Shaun Micheel
8:11 a.m. -- Fuzzy Zoeller, Brett Wetterich, Heath Slocum
8:22 a.m. -- Mark O'Meara, a-Trip Kuehne, Ian Poulter
8:33 a.m. -- Larry Mize, Peter Lonard, Hunter Mahan
8:44 a.m. -- Gary Player, Miguel Angel Jimenez, D.J. Trahan
8:55 a.m. -- Justin Leonard, Charles Howell III, Nick Watney
9:06 a.m. -- Scott Verplank, Robert Allenby, Michael Campbell
9:17 a.m. -- Ben Crenshaw, a-Michael Thompson, Nick O'Hern
9:28 a.m. -- Steve Lowery, Robert Karlsson, Nick Dougherty
9:39 a.m. -- Fred Couples, Jerry Kelly, Anders Hansen
9:50 a.m. -- Vaughn Taylor, Martin Kaymer, Arron Oberholser
10:12 a.m. -- Jose Maria Olazabal, Liang Wen-chong, Rory Sabbatini
10:23 a.m. -- Zach Johnson, Luke Donald, Geoff Ogilvy
10:34 a.m. -- Mike Weir, Padraig Harrington, Jeev Milkha Singh
10:45 a.m. -- Tiger Woods, Angel Cabrera, Stuart Appleby
10:56 a.m. -- Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson, Toru Taniguchi
11:07 a.m. -- Todd Hamilton, Brian Bateman
11:18 a.m. -- Craig Stadler, Johnson Wagner, Steve Flesch
11:29 a.m. -- Ian Woosnam, Richard Green, Stephen Ames
11:40 a.m. -- Boo Weekley, Trevor Immelman, Sean O'Hair
11:51 a.m. -- Sandy Lyle, John Rollins, J.B. Holmes
12:02 p.m. -- Soren Hansen, Daniel Chopra, Richard Sterne
12:24 p.m. -- Tom Watson, Brandt Snedeker, John Senden
12:35 p.m. -- Tim Clark, David Toms, Niclas Fasth
12:46 p.m. -- Raymond Floyd, a-Drew Weaver, Jonathan Boyd
12:57 p.m. -- Bernhard Langer, Prayad Marksaeng, Woody Austin
1:08 p.m. -- Bubba Watson, Sergio Garcia, Mark Calcavecchia
1:19 p.m. -- Adam Scott, Paul Casey, Retief Goosen
1:30 p.m. -- Vijay Singh, Steve Stricker, Stewart Cink
1:41 p.m. -- Phil Mickelson, Andres Romero, K.J. Choi
1:52 p.m. -- Ernie Els, Shingo Katayama, Jim Furyk
2:03 p.m. -- Aaron Baddeley, Camilo Villegas, Lee Westwood

Posted by Golf Champ at 9:43 PM | 0 comments    

Labels: Major Championships, the Masters

Sure, some aspects of the Masters, golf's first major tournament of the PGA Tour season, will always elude the general public. The azaleas may be died, logic behind calling gallery members "patrons"may be confusing, but one more secret kept from the public will surface.

Posted by Golf Champ at 10:25 PM | 0 comments    

Labels: PGA Tour 2008, the Masters

In a big time fight between two great powers, Tiger fought not only his swing at The Masters, but none other than Mother Nature. These two videos were aired numerous timed on The Golf Channel and SportsCenter, but both of these risks still boggle my mind.

Both were posted on The Hooked on Golf Blog. Here is an extremely late check swing when a bird flew over Tiger's ball.
Ouch. Probably a bad idea for a guy who has suffered from wrist trouble in the past. Certainly comparable to a car speeding at over 100 miles per hour stopping on a dime.

If that escape wasn't enough, Tiger took another giant wrist on Sunday.

Stuck in the woods, Tiger reasonably felt that smashing his club against a tree would be a better option than punching out of the woods. He did make par, but at the expense of one of his irons.

Posted by Golf Champ at 4:18 PM | 0 comments    

Labels: the Masters, Tiger Woods

Zach Johnson was in Butler Cabin on Sunday when U.S. Ryder Cup teammate Vaughn Taylor said, "he's not Superman, he's Superman's brother." There is probably a lot of truth in that statement.

Posted by Golf Champ at 6:13 PM | 0 comments    

Labels: PGA Tour 2007, the Masters

The Goliath certainly fell today. Even the players who could be considered "fairly likely" to win fell to Zach Johnson. Johnson was certainly unlikely, the commentators on CBS were counting him out and assuming he would falter when Tiger made eagle early on the back nine.

Of course, Johnson wasn't just any professional golfer. Coming into the 2007 Masters, Johnson had a single win on the PGA Tour. He was the second best golfer on his high school team and was not invited to play collegiate golf at his dream school, Iowa. Johnson headed to Drake, the only school where he was offered a scholarship, and then went on to play assorted mini-tours for tiny purses and a sleep-in-your-car lifestyle.

Johnson faced barriers too in this week alone. No player has won The Masters without being in the final pairing since Nick Faldo. That said, not being in the last pairing isn't necessarily a bad thing. Especially when Tiger is in that pairing.

Stuart Appleby, partner of Tiger Woods on Sunday, played strong for awhile before dropping a ball into the drink. With that, Appleby fell soundly out of contention.

Young South African Rory Sabbatini made a Sunday charge after firing a three under par 69. That performance was matched by fellow South African Retief Goosen. Both finished in a tie for second with Tiger Woods. Goosen seemed to be in it all day after overcoming adversity when making the Friday cut on the number. A win would potentially be the greatest comeback in the history of The Masters.

Tiger's game was off for most of the day. Following a mediocre front nine, Tiger needed some energy. It looked grim once Tiger found himself in the woods behind a pine tree without any way out. He took a chance going at the green, but viciously snapped an iron on the tree. The energy came on the 13th hole when Tiger smashed his second shot on the short par five onto the back of the green. In true Tiger fashion, the ball began to slowly roll back toward the flag all the way to several feet. Tiger made the eagle putt easily causing an eruption from the patrons at Augusta National. Fast forward several holes, and Tiger needed a birdie on both the 17th and 18th in order to force a playoff with Johnson, who was already in the clubhouse. Tiger put his approach shot in the bunker on 17, and followed with a decent approach on 18 when he needed to hole out.

Another possible contender on Sunday was Vijay Singh. Singh fired an extremely respectable two under par front nine, but made several bogeys on the back to finish the week at eight over par.

Zach Johnson ultimately won by two strokes to receive the green jacket from Phil Mickelson in Butler Cabin. Johnson's Sunday 69 was the best of the week for him and tied the lowest score on Sunday.

Augusta National provided an extremely difficult test of golf this week. Sunday played the easiest with a stroke average for the field at around 74.5 strokes. The winning one over par score tied the highest in the history of The Masters.

Posted by Golf Champ at 6:44 PM | 0 comments    

Labels: Major Championships, PGA Tour, PGA Tour 2007, the Masters

I am glad to be back writing for ZealousGolfer.com after a long, but enjoyable vacation. Anyways, the second half of Christmas (Masters Sunday) takes place today. As of 2:30, 9 players are within three strokes of leader Stuart Appleby, who has not yet teed off.

This could be the most exciting Masters Sunday in a long time. Just pointing out, no Australian has ever won a green jacket as Geoff Ogilivy seeks to be the first. A European hasn't won a major since Carnoustie. Most importantly, Tiger has never came from behind after 54 holes to win a major championship. One of those facts almost surely will change today.

Appleby shot a solid one over 73 on Saturday to take the lead, but left many players in the hunt. The Aussie's game has continued to be solid, but he will have a chance to prove himself after faltering on the 18th hole at the Shell Houston Open last week. With a chance to enter a playoff with fellow Australian Adam Scott, Appleby dumped his approach shot into the water while trying to be a hero.

While the premier South African, Ernie Els, dropped his consecutive cuts made stat on Friday, young gun Rory Sabbatini and two time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen are within two strokes.

Posted by Golf Champ at 2:22 PM | 0 comments    

Labels: FedEx Cup, Major Championships, the Masters