Center Stage

It's Tuesday of Honda Classic week, and Trevor Immelman is sitting in the back of a stretch limousine. Trendy in his Cole Haan European loafers, Rock & Republic jeans, Robert Graham shirt, and Gucci jacket and belt, the South African with the deep blue eyes looks to be a model or an actor instead of a ­professional golfer. Instead of playing that week's event in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., the 29-year-old Masters champion was riding from his home at Lake Nona in Orlando to the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, where he was to drop the ceremonial first puck at a Tampa Bay Lightning hockey game, part of a corporate outing on behalf of Transitions, a new PGA Tour sponsor.

Corporate days go with winning a major, and this was another demand on Immelman's time, something that has increased dramatically since he won the 2008 Masters. Immediately after winning Immelman flew to New York City for TV appearances with David Letterman and Regis and Kelly, and courtside seats for a Knicks game at Madison Square Garden. He filmed two public service announcements for the PGA Tour and did countless print and broadcast interviews. He would add events to his worldwide schedule, playing tournaments in Japan and Abu Dhabi.

The ability to manage these extracurricular activities is a skill Immelman is still learning. It is why Tiger Woods wins multiple majors, while first-timers such as himself, Zach Johnson or Geoff Ogilvy go through learning curves. "It has been crazy but [a] fun crazy," he says during the ride to Tampa. "[The past year] has been very different, a lot of extra stuff to try and find time to try. A lot of stuff I want to do, like today."

After beating Woods by three strokes and surviving one some the most demanding final-round conditions in Masters history, Immelman has had sporadic success on the course. He lost in a playoff at the Stanford St. Jude Championship last June. He closed strong in the FedEx Cup playoffs but burned himself out by playing too many international events in the off-season, and needed four weeks to recover from mid-January to mid-February. He has yet to find his rhythm in 2009 (a T-19 at the Transitions, two weeks after this interview, being his best finish), but Immelman isn't stressed by the slow start. He leaves the impression there is more to his life than just golf and that he is more mature than some of his generation.

Barely out of the gates at Lake Nona and onto the expressway, he begins talking about his year as a major champion. "I'm kind of a New Age golfer with an old-school head on my shoulders," he says. "I've always been one to let my clubs do the talking. I believe that's the way of getting attention [on the course], rather than wearing a fancy belt buckle. That's the way I was brought up in the South African culture. You don't look for attention. You get attention by doing something special."

Winning the Masters was certainly special, but ­Immelman admits it was easier to fly under the radar as a top-20 player than deal with the demands that go with winning a major. "Once you win a major championship, that changes," he says. "It definitely took me a while to be comfortable with that, to deal with that. I do think I suffered a little. I try to just ebb and flow with it, and learn as I'm going along. It's been a great run, a lot of fun and I look forward to going back. That week will be the end of an incredible year in my life."

Photo: Donald Miralle

Immelman's wife, Carminita, is sitting next to him. They met when they were 14-year-old high school freshmen in the Cape Town suburb of Somerset West. At that age Immelman was immersed in golf. Carminita first heard his name being repeated during the morning announcements, for all the trophies he would win. What started with the two watching movies at a friend's house turned into one of those happily-ever-after stories. They married in 2003 and their son, Jacob Trevor, was born in July 2006. Carminita went into labor the week of the British Open, causing Trevor to withdraw and fly home to Orlando. "I used to be more one-track minded," he says. "Everything was about golf. I grew up with such a love for the game. It was all I did since 5, all I wanted to do. As I've gotten older, I've tried to find more of a balance, enjoy other things, experience things other than golf."

Immelman's favorite retreat is a music room he built above his garage. Posters of Metallica and Led Zeppelin and photos of Jimi Hendrix and Mick Jagger adorn the walls. Albums and sheet music from Elvis Presley to Bruce Springsteen sit on a coffee table. On the floor are two drum sets, a set of Pearls once used by pro-am partner turned close friend Tico Torres of Bon Jovi and a children's set of Ludwigs for Jacob. Trevor's father, Johan, who made a career of marketing South African wines and spirits before taking over the South African Sunshine Tour, was a drummer in a band. So were three of Trevor's uncles and his brother Mark, the golf coach at Columbus (Ga.) State.

Immelman describes himself as a 10-handicap drummer. "I'm one of those guys who has a new set of Nike irons, a new driver with adjustable weights, who's playing a four-piece soft ball—I've got all the gear, but I'm struggling to break 80," he says of his game on the drums.

As a golfer, he was a prodigy. Ogilvy met Immelman during the 1997 British Amateur at Royal St. George's. "Here was this little kid, all week [he was] saying, 'I'm going to win this week, we're going to Augusta next year,''' says Ogilvy. "I'm like, 'Who is this guy?'" Immelman advanced to the final before losing to Scotland's Craig Watson. The result stunned Ogilvy, who calls Immelman, "the most advanced 17-year-old I'd seen to that point."