Immelman’s proudest moment in golf

Trevor Immelman has described becoming the third South African to be named captain of the International Team in the Presidents Cup as possibly his proudest moment in golf.

The former Masters’ champion was this week named the successor to Ernie Els as the captain for the next matches at Quail Hollow, US, next year. Fellow South African Gary Player has also captained the Internationals in this event.

Immelman has made history as the youngest captain in the Presidents Cup and will be 41 by the time he leads the Internationals to what will hopefully be their second victory against the US in the history of this competition.

“It’s hard for me to put this into words. I’m humbled and excited. Any South African growing up is very well aware of who Ernie Els and Gary Player are, so for me to have the honour of trying to follow in those footsteps is very special for me,” he said.

“Those players are mentors and friends and people I’ve relied on throughout my life for guidance, so to follow in their footsteps is special.”

Immelman gained invaluable experience as a member of Els’ leadership team for last year’s matches at Royal Melbourne, Australia, and he was also the captain for the International Team in the 2017 Junior Presidents Cup.

“The times I’ve had the opportunity to play in a team environment in my career have been such a thrill for me. The experience that I had with the Junior Presidents Cup and then being a part of Ernie’s team at the last Presidents Cup was so much fun,” Immelman said.

“To try to continue Ernie’s legacy, which he has built for our team, is something I’m really looking forward to.”

Immelman’s career has been in transition for several years now as he’s moved away from once being a major new force in the game to struggling with injury and a decline in form, and then building up a second career as an exciting new voice in the world of TV golf commentary.

“My career in the past few years has been transitioning and everybody knows that. I’ve been doing more TV work and, when you add this as the icing on the cake, it’s going to be a lot of fun.

"Now, with all the broadcasting, I’m able to go out to tournaments and focus on the new talent coming through, rather than focusing on my own game, and on gathering as much information as possible.”

In Immelman following Els, there is certainly a feeling that the Internationals are building the kind of consistency in leadership that might see them finally break the Americans’ stranglehold on this competition.

And Immelman says he’ll be casting the net as wide as possible when selecting his team for next September’s contest.

“We’re going to have a nice combination of players I grew up playing with, and then some great youngsters.

"The good thing for us is that, over the past two years or so, we’ve had a number of youngsters step up. I’m going to be in a position where I can cast a bigger net of 30 to 40 players to start creating the camaraderie we need.

“I’ve a sneaky suspicion we’ll have a few South Africans, such as Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel, Branden Grace, Erik van Rooyen and Christiaan Bezuidenhout in the mix. From a South African standpoint, I’m really looking forward to seeing how they compete in the next few months and possibly having a number of them on the team.”

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