Trevor Immelman, who made his big breakthrough on the world stage by winning the US Masters at Augusta in April, believes Oakland Hills will be extremely penal this week to those who stray off the straight and narrow. The young South African forecast that the new US PGA champion will be rewarded on Sunday for accuracy rather than length over the next four days.
"The way this course has been set up it is going to be almost impossible to hit the green if you drive the ball into the rough," said Immelman. "The player who drives the ball the straightest will have a advantage here, even if that guy is low down in the rankings." Immelman stressed that he was not complaining about the difficulty of the course. "It is not supposed to be easy to win a major," he declared. "These tournaments are supposed to provide the toughest tests of golf both mentally and physically.
Like many of the top names preparing for the 90th PGA championship, Immelman was quizzed about whether his sport should have been included on the agenda for the Olympic Games which start in Beijing this weekend. Immelman, 29, disagreed with the view of Phil Mickelson, by responding: "I don't think golf should be an Olympic sport. Nor do I think basketball should be, or tennis. If I was running the Olympics I would go back to the way the Games were originally - track and field, gymnastics, swimming, weightlifting etc. That's what the Games were all about."
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