Trevor John Immelman (born 16 December 1979) is a South African professional

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

er who has played on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...

European Tour The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fi ...

and

Sunshine Tour The Sunshine Tour is a men's professional golf tour based in Southern and East Africa. For much of its early history it was known either as the South African Tour or Sunshine Circuit; through sponsorship deals, it has also been known as the Vod ...

. He won his sole major championship at the

2008 Masters Tournament The 2008 Masters Tournament was the 72nd Masters Tournament, held April 10–13 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Trevor Immelman won his first major title, three strokes ahead of runner-up Tiger Woods, a four-time champion. Imme ...

Early years

Immelman was born in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, South Africa. Born into a golfing family. His father, Johan, is the former commissioner of the

in South Africa, while his older brother

Mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Finn ...

is a broadcaster, teaching pro and collegiate golf coach. He also has an older sister by the name of Michelle Greeff. Trevor took up golf at the age of five. He attended

Hottentots Holland High School Hottentots-Holland High School is an Afrikaans- and English language, English-speaking school in the Western Cape in South Africa, situated between the towns of Somerset West and Strand, Western Cape, Strand. The parallel-medium, co-educational ...

. He won the

U.S. Amateur Public Links The U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, often referred to as the Public Links or the Publinx, was a men's amateur golf tournament, one of 10 individual amateur championships organized by the United States Golf Association. The USGA typically cal ...

in 1998.

Professional golf career

Immelman turned professional in 1999. In 2000 he played mainly on the second tier professional tour in Europe, the

Challenge Tour The Challenge Tour is the second-tier men's professional golf tour in Europe. It is operated by the PGA European Tour and, as with on the main European Tour and the European Senior Tour, some of the events are played outside Europe. History T ...

, and finished tenth on the Order of Merit. He became a full member of the

in 2001 and has made the top twenty of the Order of Merit three times. He has four wins on the European Tour, and in 2004 became the first man to successfully defend the South African Open title since

Gary Player Gary James Player DMS, OIG (born 1 November 1935) is a South African retired professional golfer who is widely considered to be one of the greatest golfers of all time. During his career, Player won nine major championships on the regular tou ...

in the 1970s. In 2003 Immelman won the WGC-World Cup for South Africa in partnership with Rory Sabbatini. In 2005 he was a member of the losing International Team at the

Presidents Cup The Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world minus Europe. Europe competes against the United States in a similar but considerably ...

. He has been playing with increasing frequency on the

after receiving a 2-year PGA Tour exemption for 2006 and 2007 on account of this Presidents Cup appearance. In 2006 Immelman won his first PGA Tour event at the Cialis Western Open, a result that moved him into the top 15 in the

Official World Golf Rankings The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of professional golfers. It was started in 1986. The rankings are based on a player's position in individual tournaments (i.e. not pairs or team events) over a "rolli ...

. He won the

Order of Merit in 2002/03. Immelman withdrew from the 2006

Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

to be present for the birth of his first child. He finished 2006 in the top 10 of the PGA Tour money list and was named Rookie of the Year. In September 2007, Trevor Immelman was picked by

to participate in the 7th

held at the Royal Montreal Golf Club, Canada. The International team lost 14.5 to the US team's 19.5. On 13 December 2007, Immelman withdrew from the South African Airways Open due to severe discomfort around his ribcage area and a problem breathing. He went into surgery the following Tuesday, 18 December 2007, and doctors discovered a

lesion A lesion is any damage or abnormal change in the tissue of an organism, usually caused by disease or trauma. ''Lesion'' is derived from the Latin "injury". Lesions may occur in plants as well as animals. Types There is no designated classif ...

approximately the size of a golf ball on his

diaphragm Diaphragm may refer to: Anatomy * Thoracic diaphragm, a thin sheet of muscle between the thorax and the abdomen * Pelvic diaphragm or pelvic floor, a pelvic structure * Urogenital diaphragm or triangular ligament, a pelvic structure Other * Diap ...

. (Immelman remarked in an interview on the obvious irony of the size of the lesion). It was diagnosed as a calcified

fibrosis Fibrosis, also known as fibrotic scarring, is a pathological wound healing in which connective tissue replaces normal parenchymal tissue to the extent that it goes unchecked, leading to considerable tissue remodelling and the formation of perma ...

tumor A neoplasm () is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tissue, and persists ...

. After more tests they discovered that it was

benign Malignancy () is the tendency of a medical condition to become progressively worse. Malignancy is most familiar as a characterization of cancer. A ''malignant'' tumor contrasts with a non-cancerous ''benign'' tumor in that a malignancy is not s ...

. Nevertheless, treatment and recovery caused him to miss the first eight weeks of the

2008 PGA Tour The 2008 PGA Tour season ran from January 3 to November 9. The season consisted of 49 official money events. This included four major championships and three World Golf Championships, which are also sanctioned by the European Tour. There were al ...

season. However, Immelman came back to win the

. Despite scoring a double bogey on the 70th hole, the par 3 16th, Immelman finished with a score of 8 under par, beating favourite

Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records. * * * Woods is widely regarded as ...

by three strokes. In June 2009, Immelman announced he would withdraw from the U.S. Open due to

tendonitis Tendinopathy, a type of tendon disorder that results in pain, swelling, and impaired function. The pain is typically worse with movement. It most commonly occurs around the shoulder (rotator cuff tendinitis, biceps tendinitis), elbow (tennis elb ...

in his left wrist and elbow, which plagued him for much of the 2009 and 2010 seasons. As the 2013

neared its conclusion, Immelman's winless streak extended to five years; he was forced to play in the

Web.com Tour Finals The Korn Ferry Tour Finals is a series of three golf tournaments that serve as a means of earning PGA Tour membership for the following season ("Tour cards"). The series, which until 2019 consisted of four tournaments, replaced the PGA Tour Qualif ...

after he failed to make the

FedEx Cup The FedEx Cup is a championship trophy for the PGA Tour. Its introduction marked the first time that men's professional golf had a playoff system. Announced in November 2005, it was first awarded in 2007. Rory McIlroy is the 2022 champion. ...

playoffs and his five-year exemption for winning the Masters expired. Immelman won the

Hotel Fitness Championship The Hotel Fitness Championship was a golf tournament on the Web.com Tour. It was played for the first time in August/September 2013 at the Sycamore Hills Golf Club in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It was the first of four tournaments making up the Web.com ...

, the first of four

tournaments, and finished the Finals in sixth place to regain his PGA Tour card for 2014. 2018 saw a resurgence in Immelman's career. Focusing on the European Tour, he made the cut in 8 out of 13 events, with a best finish of T3 at the

Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open The Genesis Scottish Open is a professional golf tournament in Scotland, and is one of five tournaments that are part of the Rolex Series, which identifies it as one of the European Tour's premier events. It has been played on various courses, ...

. In the event he had a chance to qualify for The Open Championship via the Open Qualifying Series, but missed an eight-foot birdie putt on the last and lost out to

Jens Dantorp Jens Morgan Dantorp (born 28 April 1989) is a Swedish professional golfer who plays on the European Tour and the Challenge Tour. He has won three times on the Challenge Tour. Professional career Dantorp turned professional in 2008 and played ...

by world rankings. However, with the finish, Immelman moved from 1,380th in the world to 420th, his highest ranking since 2014. Immelman finished 77th on the

Race to Dubai The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fi ...

standings, regaining full status for the

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

season. In September 2022, Immelman captained the International team in the

2022 Presidents Cup The 2022 Presidents Cup was the 14th edition of the Presidents Cup golf competition, held at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, from September 22–25, 2022. This was Quail Hollow's first time hosting the Presidents Cup. The matches ...

Quail Hollow Club Quail Hollow Club is a country club and golf course in the southeastern United States, located in the Quail Hollow neighborhood in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is a private member club, founded by James J. Harris on April 13, 1959. The club ho ...

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most popu ...

. The U.S. team won 17.5–12.5.

Broadcasting

In 2017, 2018 and 2019, Turner Sports utilized Immelman as an analyst for coverage of the

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. It is one of the four men's major championships ...

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

. In December 2019, Immelman joined the

PGA Tour on CBS ''PGA Tour on CBS'' (or ''Golf on CBS'') is the branding used for broadcasts of the PGA Tour that are produced by CBS Sports, the sports division of the CBS television network in the United States. Coverage overview CBS Sports has been a carrier ...

commentating team.

Personal life

Immelman married his childhood sweetheart, Carminita, on 6 December 2003. He has frequently participated in his mentor

's charity golf events around the world to help raise funds for children's causes. Immelman has a residence in

Winter Park, Florida Winter Park is a city in Orange County, Florida, United States. The population was 30,183 according to the 2022 census population estimate. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. Winter Park was f ...

that he purchased in 2016 from former professional football player Jeff Faine.

Amateur wins

*1997 South African Amateur *1998

Professional wins (11)

PGA Tour wins (2)

PGA Tour playoff record (0–2)

European Tour wins (4)

¹Co-sanctioned by the

European Tour playoff record (1–2)

Sunshine Tour wins (5)

¹Co-sanctioned by the

Sunshine Tour playoff record (1–1)

Web.com Tour wins (1)

Challenge Tour wins (1)

Other wins (1)

Major championships

Wins (1)

Results timeline

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 6 (2004 U.S. Open – 2005 PGA) *Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (2007 PGA – 2008 Masters)

Results in The Players Championship

CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = Withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

"T" indicates a tie for a place.
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

Team appearances

Amateur *

Eisenhower Trophy The Eisenhower Trophy (World Men's Amateur Team Championships) is the biennial World Amateur Team Championship for men organized by the International Golf Federation. Since the tournament was first played in 1958, it is named after Dwight D. Eise ...

(representing South Africa):

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

Professional *

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

(representing South Africa):

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A ...

(winners),

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...

(International Team):

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

(non-playing captain)

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Immelman, Trevor South African male golfers Sunshine Tour golfers European Tour golfers PGA Tour golfers Winners of men's major golf championships Golf writers and broadcasters Korn Ferry Tour graduates Sportspeople from Cape Town White South African people 1979 births Living people