Week 14 Approach Shots: The Masters
By PGATOUR.COM Staff
A MAJOR MOMENT: Although he shot a final-round, 3-over 75 at Augusta National Golf Club a year ago, Trevor Immelman was able to win the most significant tournament of his career when he captured the Masters Tournament by three strokes over Tiger Woods. Immelman, a South Africa native, took the tournament lead at the halfway point, extended his advantage to two strokes through 54 holes and then held on. It was Immelman's second PGA TOUR victory -- his first came at the 2006 Cialis Western Open -- to go with his six international titles.
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Once again, the attention of the golf world will be on Augusta, Ga., for the Masters Tournament, an annual spring event that dates to 1934. Immelman is attempting to become the first player since Woods in 2002 to successfully defend his title. In history, only Woods, Jack Nicklaus (1965-66) and Nick Faldo (1989-90) have won back-to-back Masters titles.
This season, Immelman has made five of six cuts but has yet to record a top-10 finish. His best performance came at the Transitions Championship, where he tied for 19th.
PLAYER NOTES: Immelman, by winning the 2008 Masters, became the youngest winner of the tournament since Tiger Woods won in 2002. Immelman was 28 years, 3 months, 28 days compared to Woods' 26 years, 3 months, 15 days. Immelman also became the first international player to win the tournament since Canadian Mike Weir won in 2003. Immelman and Gary Player are the only South African champions. ...
Zach Johnson (2007) and Immelman (2008) showed there are several ways to win at Augusta National Golf Club. One year after Johnson set the record for the highest cumulative score by a champion on par 4s (8-over), Immelman (10-under) broke Tiger Woods' record (8-under) for lowest cumulative score on the par 4s. Woods originally set his mark in 2001. ...
A new streak was started in 2008 as champion Immelman played in the final pairing Sunday. In 2007, Zach Johnson became the first Masters champion to win without being in the final group on Sunday since 1990 when tournament winner Nick Faldo was in the penultimate group. The final Sunday pairing in 2007 was Stuart Appleby and Tiger Woods. ...
Tiger Woods has tied for third, tied for second and solo second since his last Masters victory in 2005. The three-year winless streak (2006-08) matches the longest previous drought of his career (1998-2000) at Augusta National. ...
With two bogeys and an eagle in the first round in 2008 for an even-par 72, Woods has not broken par in the first round of the Masters since a 2-under 70 in 2002. ...
A year ago, 20 rookies played in their first Masters, with 10 making the cut. The top finishers among the first-timers were Andres Romero (tied for eighth), Nick Watney (tied for 11th) and Brian Bateman, Boo Weekley and Bubba Watson (tied for 20th). ...
With his tie for fifth in 2008, Phil Mickelson has 11 top-10s in 15 career professional starts at the Masters, including two wins and nine top-10s in his last 10 trips. ...
Justin Rose, who eventually tied for 36th in 2008, held the third 18-hole lead/co-lead of his Masters career in his fourth career start in Augusta. In 2004, he opened with a 67 and led by two over Chris DiMarco and Jay Haas. That year, Rose tied for 22nd. Last year, a 69 matched Brett Wetterich for the 18-hole lead en route to a tie for fifth. ...
Ian Poulter posted the 19th hole-in-one in Masters history in the first round at No. 16 a year ago. It was the tournament's first ace since Immelman had one in the fourth round on No. 16 in 2005. Poulter's hole-in-one was the 11th at the 16th hole. ...
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