This week at The Masters, 2009 champion Trevor Immelman will get to do something new as it will be his first Masters as the lead analyst alongside Jim Nantz. Like all of us who go into doing something for the first time, Immelman does feel some nerves.
Immelman was a guest on the Fore Play podcast this week and he said that he does feel some nerves, but he gets the same adrenaline rush that he had while he was playing.
“The adrenaline rush that I get when I’m about to go on and during the show is identical to what I would feel when I was playing. Have I done enough preparation? Have I done the right preparation? Will I find the right words in the right moment? I get a lot of the same feels.
“I’m nervous to not say something stupid, I’m nervous to be able to find the right words at the right time, to give the right explanations of how the course is playing or what a player is facing. The last few weeks, I’m thinking about different ways to explain things and get my point across quickly.”
Since Immelman has gone from playing the golf course to calling the action, he has learned how much more he loves the sport.
“The underlying factor is I really love the game and what’s quite interesting to me is that I think I only started to actually figure this out when I started doing TV. When I was competing — and in some way, shape, or form, I’ve been competing since I was 5 or 6 years old on this run of trying to be as good as I can be at whatever level I was playing — I was just so focused on improving, trying to win, competing, and you can become a little jaded at points because the game is so tough.
“Since I’ve gone all in on the TV and stopped competing, I’ve really, really come to realize how much I love this sport. It’s authentic excitement and love for the sport and the venues and the tournaments and how good these players are. I just try to let that come out.”
Even though CBS has not aired a tournament over the last month due to the NCAA Tournament coverage, Immelman detailed the prep work he has been doing and the role he wants to bring to the viewing audience.
“It never ends. I see it as my job and my profession so I’m constantly paying attention. Put a lot of work in when I was starting as lead analyst for the west coast swing. Even while we’ve been off over the last 5-6 weeks, I’ve watched a lot of golf, I’ve read a lot of articles, I’ve listened to a lot of the podcasts. You just keep picking up nuggets and learning new things.
“On top of that, I have all of my notes since I’ve been doing the Masters broadcast (2020). I keep all of the stuff I do every tournament when we go back the following year, then I go over that and pick out nuggets I like and things I can use again.
“You realize you are being paid to talk. You have that in the back of your mind and really it comes down to have confident are you and how comfortable are you saying nothing at all rather than saying something stupid or something cliche. You have to have a lot of confidence to be able to do that. The Masters provides a great opportunity to say nothing because it’s so beautiful to watch on TV. You can hear the voice of the patrons, and the sound of the strike as it reverberates through the trees.”
While Immelman has been at The Masters for the last 20+ years in different ways, this week will feel full circle for him because of adding a new experience into the mix.
“Now, it’s been full circle starting at The Masters as an amateur in 1999 and then starting to play there and eventually winning, and then going back year-after-year as a champion and now having the ability to sit in Butler Cabin next to such a legend in Jim Nantz. It’s going to add an extra layer for me. I’ve had so many unique experiences at Augusta National and doing The Masters. To add this to be calling the action at a golf course and a tournament that changed my life, it’s going to be seriously cool.”
