The Grand Slam, a topic Woods brought up by writing on his Web site that winning all four majors in a year was “easily within reason,” will have to wait for another year for him. Woods never got close enough to plant any negative swing thoughts in Immelman’s head. He began the day six strokes behind and finished three back, at five-under-par 283.  “I learned my lesson there with the press,” Woods said with a smile. “I’m not going to say anything. It’s just one of those things when you’re out there playing, you couldn’t care less. You’re trying to win a golf tournament. You’re trying to put yourself in position, which I did. I just didn’t make the putts.”  That is for certain. He lipped out a four-footer and bogeyed the fourth hole; he missed a four-footer for birdie at the 13th after nearly holing his approach from 100 yards; and he three-putted the 14th hole to kill whatever chance he might have had of getting Immelman’s attention. He did make a 70-footer at the 11th hole for birdie, but that was the extent of his fireworks.  For much of the afternoon, Snedeker, who began the day two shots back, was applying the pressure. A talented 27-year-old from Tennessee, Snedeker eagled the second hole with a long putt to pull even with Immelman, but he bogeyed the third hole to fall one shot back, the sixth to fall three back and the ninth to make the turn four strokes behind.  Although Snedeker tried mightily to apply some pressure, Immelman seemed impervious to it. This was evident after his quick turnaround after a bogey at the 12th hole. Immelman had launched his 8-iron into the pine straw behind the hole, and he failed to get up and down for par. Snedeker made a 35-foot, right-to-left putt that cut Immelman’s lead to three strokes. Game on.  Not for long. After Snedeker deposited his second shot at No. 13 into the tributary of Rae’s Creek, Immelman stuck a wedge from 85 yards within four feet and made birdie. After a wedge to eight feet, Snedeker’s putt for par slid past. Two more bogeys in the next three holes ended his chance for a victory.  “It was a tough day,” said Snedeker, who shot 77 and tied for third with Stewart Cink. “Trevor played fantastic. I obviously couldn’t get anything going, couldn’t make any putts when I needed to. I’m still a little emotional, as you can tell, but it’s one of those things. You’ve got of kind of pick yourself up, realize what you did wrong and go fix it.”  Immelman faced down two more near disasters as he headed for home. At the 16th, he hooked his tee shot into the water and made double bogey. His lead over Woods shrunk to three strokes with three holes to play. If he was going to collapse, it would be now.  He had two more chances. His approach to the 17th found the front bunker. He calmly got up and down for par. His drive at the 18th found a divot. He calmly sent his 8-iron shot into the fat of the green.  “It was so tough and I was just trying to be tough, to hang in there, because there’s disaster around every corner as I showed on those last few holes,” Immelman said before slipping into the green jacket awarded to Masters champions. “I knew it was going to be tough when I looked out the window this morning and saw the wind blowing.  “Last week I missed the cut in Houston and here I am sitting here as the Masters champion. It’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard of.”  As he took the champion’s walk up the 18th fairway, bathed in shafts of soft light shining through the Georgia pines, Immelman smiled, waved and fought to keep his emotions in check. Nearly four months ago, he was in a hospital awaiting the results of a biopsy on a tumor. It was benign. He has a seven-inch scar on his back as a reminder of what could have been.  After parring the last hole for a total of 8-under-par 280, he wore a huge smile as a reminder of what is. He embraced his brother; his parents, June and Johan; his wife, Carminita; and his 1-year-old son, Jacob.  “I knew I had to go out there and just stick to my game, and stick to my game plan and play one shot at a time and just be tough,” Immelman said. “You know, I’m proud of myself for doing that.”  This was one of the craziest Masters final rounds. Wind gusts of more than 35 m.p.h., combined with the pressure of the final round, sent scores soaring. Only four players broke par, and 36 were over par, including every golfer in the last two groups. Flesch was three shots back entering the final round, but shot a 78 and finished tied for fifth. Phil Mickelson and Padraig Harrington were at two-under 286.  But Immelman survived. Toughed it out. As Player did in his three Masters victories, and in the 51 years he has continued to play here. Immelman did what his mentor told him to, and he did himself proud.  “You know, I took that all to heart, and I’m obviously thankful for the message and I’m sure he’s proud of me,” he said.
Trevor Immelman of South Africa won the 72nd Masters tournament on Sunday, a triumph of will by the tough 28-year-old golfer over a demanding golf course.