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Immelman: Woods still strongest
15/04/2008 07:34 - (SA)
Georgia - Trevor Immelman passed the stringent test of Augusta National to win the Masters on Sunday, but the South African said Tiger Woods remains at the head of the class.
"I don't think it's ever easy to win a major," said the 28-year-old Immelman, who gutted out a three-over 75 in swirling winds on Sunday to defeat four-time champion Woods by three shots.
Far from feeling a question about Woods somehow detracted from his champion's status, Immelman said his triumph was all the more satisfying since it came with Woods in the field.
"I'm playing in Tiger Woods's era. The guy boggles my mind," Immelman said. "I'm an avid sports watcher. I'm an avid sports fan, and I study top sportsmen. This guy is frightening in what he gets done and how he gets it done and the ease in which he gets it done."
Woods's second straight runner-up finish at Augusta, where he claimed the last of his four Masters titles in 2005, was all the more deflating in the wake of his own assertion that a never-before accomplished calendar Grand Slam was "easily within reason" for him.
It was a sign of Woods's recent dominance - with nine victories in 11 tournaments worldwide prior to the Masters - that the statement was taken seriously by golf pundits as well as his fellow players.
'I haven't won'
England's Ian Poulter, who electrified Augusta with a hole-in-one on Thursday, found himself spending less time talking about his exploit than he did back-pedalling about remarks earlier this year when he supposedly challenged Woods's supremacy.
"I wasn't comparing anything to Tiger ... I wasn't going to say I was going to go win 84 tournaments on the PGA tour - I haven't won one yet," poor Poulter insisted. "I was basically saying how good Tiger was, and how achievable I really think it is to get to the No.2 spot."
A balky putter prevented Woods from putting any real pressure on Immelman on Sunday, although he did manage to seize sole possession of second place after starting the day six shots off the lead.
While a calendar Grand Slam - to go with his "Tiger Slam" of four straight major triumphs spanning 2000 and 2001 - won't be happening for Woods this year, the US superstar still has Jack Nicklaus's record of 18 major victories to chase.
Next up is the US Open, June 12-15, which will be held at the Torrey Pines South Course north of San Diego, California.
Torrey Pines, which will become just the second public course to host the US Open, is home of the PGA Tour's Buick Invitational, an event Woods has won six times, including the last four.
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Woods has also played well at Royal Birkdale, where the British Open will be held July 17-20. In the 1998 Open there Woods finished one-shot out of a playoff.
Immelman, for one, expects Woods's tally of major triumphs to continue to grow, but with his own first Major under his belt he hopes to be among those challenging the world No.1 in golf's premier events.
"To win 13 majors at the age of 32 is just frightening," Immelman said. "It's just crazy to think how many he's going to get to. I'm not sure if I'll ever get it done again, but I'll be trying my best."
Stewart Cink, who played alongside Woods on Sunday and finished tied for third, said even as he watched Woods struggle on the greens he was impressed by the superstar's flair and determination.
"It's just like an aura around him," Cink said. "You can feel that he thinks he's going to win."
That determination wasn't enough on Sunday, but Cink said more often than not it would be.
"It's kind of like trying to breathe the air at the top of Mount Everest," Cink said of the challenge of beating Woods.
"It's not just majors, though. It's golf tournaments. I'm just glad he doesn't play 40 tournaments a year."
- AFP
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