Trevor Immelman: I was hell bent on improving because of Tiger Woods

When your game is good these days, how close is that to where you were maybe 10-15 years ago?

That’s an interesting one. The problem is it’s so hard to know because you look back at the past with such a fond eye. But the problem is when you’re in that moment you still think there are inadequacies and it’s very hard to accurately judge.

When I look back at my game I’ve always been a very average driver of the ball and very average putter. I think that’s why I’ve struggled a little in the last number of years. When I’ve played my best my iron play was, I believe, one of the best so that was my weapon. The only reason I’m still out here is because every now and again, I have a round or a stretch of holes where I believe, you know, this can get it done.

In order for me to prolong this last phase, I’m going to have find a way to be much more consistent and reliable on the greens.

Justin Rose and Trevor Immelman

You must have some hopes to get back to a level where you can play a fuller schedule perhaps?

Yeah, this is something that is quite interesting for an athlete and the hurdles we have to face. Take Andy Murray for example, I’m not as accomplished as he is but I’d put myself in the same category for a standpoint where the mind is still capable but the body is not.

That is mentally a very difficult situation to be in for an athlete because in your mind you still believe in yourself and think you’ve still got the work ethic, but then you go to the well and there’s nothing there. It’s quite mind-blowing.

That is what I experienced on the Sunday at the Scottish Open, I was walking the fairways with the World No. 1 Justin Rose and we’ve known each other since we were tiny and played junior golf together. I was shot-for-shot with him and I was hanging in there, that was the time for whatever reason my skills were matching up to my mental capability.

That is the challenge for me, to match them up more often.

What have you learnt about what to practise at?

You’ve got to weigh up is where the gains are going to be for the amount of time that you invest. What I’ve started to learn is that whilst I thoroughly enjoy practising the long game, the amount of time that I invest doesn’t show up in the tournaments. So, I don’t all of a sudden hit more greens or fairways in a round, the stats stay eerily similar which is very frustrating. For me to stay on tour I’m going to have to make some gains on the greens.

How disappointing was it to miss out on The Open last year?

It was very disappointing, it would have been a lot of fun. I’ve played The Open at Carnoustie before and it’s a golf club that I love and is very difficult and demanding. It was firm and fast which would have suited me and I was playing well at the time.

But, there’s a part of me that wasn’t bothered by it either because I’ve had many opportunities and I loved those opportunities.

When I was a kid, I thought The Open would be the major I’d win because I loved links golf and have always had a fairly low-ball flight. Growing up in Cape Town, it’s renowned for being windy and from a young age I knew how to flight the ball down and pierce it through the breeze. So, that’s my game and that’s why I thought if I was going to win one, it would be The Open.

It would have been worse if I wasn’t at the tournament doing the TV, I enjoyed at least being there as part of it and taking some of it in.

Trevor Immelman

How much would you love to have one more go at it?

I’d love to have one more go at any tournament, I’d love to have one more opportunity to come down the stretch. Every player that you see out here, on the range, on the putting green, that is what we’ve all dreamed of since we were kids and that never goes away.

Different things make different people tick and that’s what’s made us tick our whole lives, having that chance come Sunday.

I would love any opportunity that I get, just like what happened at the Scottish Open.

What is your favourite course on The Open rota?

I had two favourites. The Old Course for obvious reasons, history and traditions, the whole atmosphere around the town. If you know golf, everybody knows every hole it’s kind of like Augusta National, they don’t even have to go there but they can tell you about the 13thand this hole and that hole and what a certain putt does. So that was always very special and that’s why I enjoy going to the Dunhill Links every year.

And, Muirfield. I thought that was one of the hardest golf courses on earth, very demanding and challenging which meant I enjoyed playing that one, too.

Going back to your Challenge Tour days what are your happiest memories?

The happiest memory was getting off the Challenge Tour! I know that may sound obnoxious or like something that’s not nice to say but there’s no player that plays on the Challenge Tour who wants to spend a lot of time there, it’s a stepping stone.

So the happiest moment was getting my tour card and moving on to the European Tour. I played at the same time as Henrik Stenson and he is probably the most accomplished player to have come from that tour and we got our cards the same year in 2000.

It’s a hell of an opportunity for a young kid from around the world to grow up because you’re travelling to places all over the world that aren’t necessarily the biggest towns or cities and you’re having to grind it out.

You have to play really well to cover your expenses, it’s tough. It’s the school of hard knocks there and it really makes you grow up. For me as a 19-year-old kid at the time, it stood me in good stead going forward.

You beat Henrik by four shots in the Kenyan Open…

Maybe that was the one time I got him that year! That was obviously nice for me to win the first event of the season, it meant I pretty much just had to stay upright and I would keep my card. You look back at it with fond memories because you realise that it was a very important time of your career.

Looking back on those years and your major wins etc, what does that add to your analytic work?

It brings vast amounts of experience and I’m talking about on both sides of the coin. I’ve been to the top of the mountain, so to speak, and then I’ve experienced the lows of the lows. You know, losing my tour card on the PGA Tour, really struggling, so when I make statements and analyse the game of golf, it comes from a very sincere place, that has literally experienced everything the game has to offer.

I can understand what’s going through a player’s mind, what’s going through a player’s body, the anxiety that creeps up and the confidence that you can feel, so I’m always trying to explain that to the viewer.

Are you now comfortable with your swing and happy to leave it as it is?

I think I’m getting to grips it now, it’s going to be what it’s going to be. I’m going to be able to move one step in either direction but I’m not going to be able to make giant changes anymore. I’m going to have to make do with what I’ve got and the thing I’ve got to do now is work on the short game and sharpen it up to see where I can save some shots.

Look out for more fascinating insights from Immelman in the coming weeks as he reveals what goes on at the Champions Dinner.