Only Jack Nicklaus has won more Masters titles than Tiger Woods, with the 49-year-old putting on the green jacket five times during his illustrious career.
It was The Masters which saw Tiger Woods launch himself into the stratosphere in 1997, as he won by 12 shots. And, as things stand, it looks set to be Augusta National which provided the stage for Woods’ final major win following his dramatic victory in 2019.
There were 14 years between Woods winning his fourth and fifth Masters titles. Of course, he experienced real difficulties away from the course during that time, as he also dealt with a number of serious injuries which would have prompted most others to retire.
But his record during that run was remarkable. Woods made 10 appearances between those wins, and finished in the top six on seven occasions – coming second twice.
Woods’ first runner-up finish at The Masters came in 2007, with Zach Johnson able to do enough to secure his first major title. And the second would come one year later.
The ‘craziest’ few months leading into The Masters in 2008
Interestingly, Woods never really got into contention for much of 2008’s event – only entering the top 10 after the third round. Nevertheless, a 72 on Sunday was good enough to earn him second place – to Trevor Immelman.
Immelman had had such an interesting career up until that stage, having earned his way onto the PGA Tour by going through the Challenge Tour and then the European Tour.
And he did have some success stateside before 2008. He was Rookie of the Year in 2006, winning the Cialis Western Open that same year. Funnily enough, one of those who finished second to Immelman that week was Tiger Woods.
His Masters debut had actually come in 1999, but it was only in 2003 that he had started to become a regular in the majors. His only two top 10 finishes in the four biggest events of the year before 2008 had come at the 2005 Masters and the 2007 PGA Championship.
However, towards the end of 2007, Immelman was forced to undergo surgery to remove a lesion from his diaphragm. It meant several weeks of not swinging a golf club, and thus, he was seen as a real outsider heading into Augusta National in 2008.
Immelman ending up leading after every single round, with Woods’ hopes ending with a bogey on 14 on Sunday.
And following his victory the South African went on to explain just how difficult the previous few months had been.
“This has probably been the ultimate rollercoaster ride, and I hate rollercoasters. You know, it’s kind of really weird,” he said.
“Obviously I win the Nedbank Challenge down in South Africa, a week later I’m having an operation to remove a tumor; that all gets done, I get the right result there, and I make a pretty fast recovery over a six, seven-week period and I get back out on to the Tour eager to play, but my game wasn’t quite there. I didn’t feel happy with my game. I didn’t feel happy with the way I was playing. I felt like I had to just basically start from zero again.
“You know, I started chipping away at a few things, and I was missing cuts but just trying to stay positive because I knew I was improving week-after-week.
“Here I am after missing the cut last week, Masters Champion. It’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard of.”
The rollercoaster continued for Trevor Immelman after he won The Masters
The 2008 Masters proved to be the high point of Immelman’s playing career. He would actually never finish in the top 10 in a major again – although he came close on a handful of occasions – while he also did not win again on the PGA Tour or European Tour.
In fact, Immelman’s only victory after 2008 came on the Web.com Tour in 2013 as he looked to regain his PGA Tour card for 2014.
Injuries plagued the latter stages of his career, with Immelman only turning 45 in December 2024. He is now known for his analysis on CBS, as well as the chairman of the Official World Golf Ranking. And he did a phenomenal job of captaining the Internationals at the 2022 Presidents Cup after having the spine of his side ripped out by LIV Golf.
While many Masters champions will take up the opportunity to compete in the first major of the year for a long time after their playing careers have largely come to an end, Immelman has not featured at Augusta National since 2019 – the year Woods triumphed again.
Injuries surely denied the South African the chance to realise his full potential over a much longer period, but nothing will change the fact that Immelman will always be known as a Masters champion.
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