2008 Woodie Awards
Inside the Lines: Sometimes even an underdog can become a Master
J. Andrew Horvath
Issue date: 4/17/08 Section: Sports
This is not news: Tiger Woods did not win the Masters at Augusta National on Sunday. Tiger Woods will therefore not win the Grand Slam, a feat he once considered somewhat reasonable to expect…which goes to show exactly how good and confident Woods really is.
Instead of actually fulfilling the Tiger Slam though, on Sunday the green jacket went to Trevor Immelman, a South African wisecracker who had surgery to remove a tumor from his diaphragm only four months ago. No news yet on whether he'll elect to continue having bits of himself removed before tournaments to advance his winning streak, however.
Immelman isn't the kind of golfer that ranks consistently among the top in his sport: this was the first major victory of his career. What is certain, though, is that he gives about as good an interview as anyone in sports.
He takes no liberties with his liberal utilizations of "hells" and "damns" in every other sentence and possesses a rough-around-the-edges yet gentle candor that is refreshing to anyone on the listening end of the microphone. He's like the Archie Bunker of the gold world, except the only racist thing we've seen him do so far is beat Tiger and he only barely did that too.
He even admits to not wanting to know what position he held while on the lynx at the Masters, meaning he was playing as blind as an NCAA referee during the tournament. Like our President and his advisors, Immelman refused to let his caddy give him the pertinent information on his performance. He had no idea what kind of golf he needed to play on the final few holes.
And you don't even like to play Tiger Woods Golf on Wii or Xbox without Tiger Vision.
The energy coming from Immelman's victory is unquestionably positive. He has faced adversity with his health and his game. Immelman failed to make the cut at the PGA event prior to the Masters. The positivity, though, may have as much to do with Tiger Woods as it does Trevor Immelman.
Instead of actually fulfilling the Tiger Slam though, on Sunday the green jacket went to Trevor Immelman, a South African wisecracker who had surgery to remove a tumor from his diaphragm only four months ago. No news yet on whether he'll elect to continue having bits of himself removed before tournaments to advance his winning streak, however.
Immelman isn't the kind of golfer that ranks consistently among the top in his sport: this was the first major victory of his career. What is certain, though, is that he gives about as good an interview as anyone in sports.
He takes no liberties with his liberal utilizations of "hells" and "damns" in every other sentence and possesses a rough-around-the-edges yet gentle candor that is refreshing to anyone on the listening end of the microphone. He's like the Archie Bunker of the gold world, except the only racist thing we've seen him do so far is beat Tiger and he only barely did that too.
He even admits to not wanting to know what position he held while on the lynx at the Masters, meaning he was playing as blind as an NCAA referee during the tournament. Like our President and his advisors, Immelman refused to let his caddy give him the pertinent information on his performance. He had no idea what kind of golf he needed to play on the final few holes.
And you don't even like to play Tiger Woods Golf on Wii or Xbox without Tiger Vision.
The energy coming from Immelman's victory is unquestionably positive. He has faced adversity with his health and his game. Immelman failed to make the cut at the PGA event prior to the Masters. The positivity, though, may have as much to do with Tiger Woods as it does Trevor Immelman.
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