Immelman closes strong to get in the mix

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Whatever his vertical leap is, Trevor Immelman needed it from 200 yards out on the 17th. Either Ike's Tree or its up-fairway neighbor had knocked down Immelman's tee shot. From his spot low behind a high ridge, the South African -- the 2008 Masters winner -- couldn't see the green. So he leaped once. Then a second time. Came back to the ball, then wanted to be certain. So he leaped again, and again.

"I was trying to see the top of a tree behind the green, something to line me up," he said later. Once he found a target, he slashed "a 4-iron way up in the sky," the guided missile coming down in the center of the green, maybe 12 feet from the hole. He then ran -- ran! -- to the hilltop to see the fruit of his work: "If I'd gotten it that close with a wedge, I'd have been over the moon."

He made that putt, then put his second six feet away on the 18th for a birdie-birdie finish and a 69 that left him four shots behind the leaders.

-- Dave Kindred