Immelman kept his cool in the final round to take a three-stroke victory over Tiger Woods that made him the first South African to win the green jacket since Gary Player 30 years ago.
"This has probably been the ultimate roller-coaster ride, and I hate roller-coasters," Immelman told reporters.
"I win the Nedbank Challenge down in South Africa, a week later I'm having an operation to remove a tumour.
"This has probably been the ultimate roller-coaster ride, and I hate roller-coasters."
Trevor Immelman |
"Here I am, after missing the cut last week, Masters champion. It's the craziest thing I've ever heard of."
Immelman was spurred on by a motivational message from Player to put him in the right frame of mind.
"He left me a voicemail last night, and I got it when I was leaving the premises. You know, it gave me goosebumps," the 28-year-old said.
"He told me that he believed in me and I need to believe in myself. He told me to just go out there and be strong through adversity, because he said that adversity would come today, and I just had to deal with it.
"You know, I took that all to heart, and I'm obviously thankful for the message and I'm sure he's proud of me."
Bad week for Woods
Immelman, who led the tournament throughout, was cruising with a five-shot lead and three holes to play when he hit his tee shot to the par-three 16th into the pond.
That was when caddie Neil Wallace stepped in.
" ...certainly this week was not one of my best."
Tiger Woods |
"My caddie did a great job. He told me to just hang in there. He told me I was doing well even after I hit it in the water," said Immelman, who scored a double-bogey at the 16th but held his nerve to par the final two holes for a final round score of three-over par.
Woods offset three birdies with three bogeys for an even final round to finish five-under 283, dashing his bid for a sweep of this year's four majors.
"I didn't putt well all week," the four-time Masters champion said.
"You have bad weeks and you have good weeks, and certainly this week was not one of my best."
Destiny fulfilled
Immelman, the US Tour's rookie of the year two years ago, knew he would be a professional golfer from an early age.
"From the age of five when I picked up the game, I just fell in love with it and it's all I wanted to do. That's what I told my parents," he said.
"I wanted to play professional golf for a living.
"My dad recorded every televised golf tournament from that point on and I just used to sit at home watching tapes with my brother. We just used to sit and watch these tapes and re-watch the tapes, just imagine being here and being at majors."
Immelman expects even more from himself as he chases more major titles.
"Obviously this is a tremendous confidence boost, and now that I know that I have got one under my belt, all I can do is go out there and prepare well for the majors from now on, and just try my best."