Immelman is No April Fool

Trevor Immelman has been named The European Tour Golfer of the Month for April following his outstanding first Major Championship success in the Masters Tournament. Immelman became the first South African to claim the Green Jacket since his mentor, Gary Player, 30 years earlier. The 28 year old, whose eight under par total gave him a three stroke winning margin over World Number One Tiger Woods, became the first wire-to-wire winner at Augusta National since Seve Ballesteros in 1980. The victory lifted him to the top of The European Tour Order of Merit and means he now keeps illustrious company alongside Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Bobby Locke and Player as South African Major Champions. Immelman won the April Award ahead of several contenders, led by Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke, who claimed his first European Tour title in five years with a dramatic victory in the BMW Asian Open. Clarke’s victory at the Tomson Shanghai Pudong Golf Club, his 11th on The European Tour, was an emotional one for The Ryder Cup player who was competing in his 11th European Tour event in 2008 and his 375th in all. Other contenders in an exciting month were Ireland’s Damien McGrane, winner of the Volvo China Open; France’s Grégory Bourdy, who claimed a wire-to-wire victory in the Estoril Open de Portugal; Australian Adam Scott, winner of the EDS Byron Nelson Championship in Texas; Chile’s Felipe Aguilar, who won the 82nd Abierto de Chile Visa in his home country; Ireland’s Padraig Harrington, who tied for fifth in the Masters Tournament and Spaniard Miguel Angel Jiménez, Swede Robert Karlsson and Argentine Andres Romero, who all finished tied eighth at the Masters Tournament. Other monthly winners in 2008 have been Germany’s Martin Kaymer (January), Mark Brown of New Zealand (February) and Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland (March). At the end of the year, all monthly winners will be amongst the players considered by the panel for The European Tour Golfer of the Year award.