Trevor Immelman Q&A: Presidents Cup captain opens up on LIV Golf, who he wants on his team, beating Tiger Woods and more

“We’re getting to a point to where the players that are staying on the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour, they’ve kind of had enough. They’ve had enough. They’re fed up, frustrated, irritated by the fact that they are pitching up to these tournaments and all everybody’s talking about is the other tour. So we’re getting to a point to where there’s a division amongst these players.”

“Wherever any of us grew up, whether it be here in the States, or down in South Africa, Australia or Mexico or South America, as soon as we fell in love with this game and we decided that our dream was to play professionally, all of our goals were to win on the PGA Tour and to win major championships, because that’s where the best play. That’s part of the decision making process right now for these guys, because you might be in a situation to where that’s not possible for you anymore. Right? That’s tricky. We’ll see.”

Trevor Immelman holds the winner’s check after the final round of the Cialis Western Open on the No. 4 Dubsdread course at Cog Hill Golf and Country Club in Lemont, Illinois on July 9, 2006. (Photo by Michael Cohen/Getty Images)

“I’m not gonna lie, it hurts us immensely. Louis Oosthuizen and Abraham Ancer were two integral parts of the International Team. Louis, because he is so experienced. He’s played a number of Presidents Cups. He still has what it takes to compete at the highest level, under the most pressure. He proved that in the way he played in the major championships last year. Over and above the way he plays, he is one of the leaders in the locker room. He’s extremely approachable, he’s funny as heck, he has an amazing personality and people gravitate towards him in the locker room. So it’s a massive loss on and off the golf course.

“Ancer was a rookie in 2019, he played extremely well in Melbourne, he scored a number of points for us and he was like an up-and-coming guy with a little bit of edge, handles pressure well, doesn’t back down from anything. He proved when he won the World Golf event last year that he can also get up with the best in the world. So this is a tremendous blow to a team that has always had some depth issues. We’ve lost two guys that were absolutely going to be there at Quail Hollow.”

Louis Oosthuizen, Marc Leishman, Abraham Ancer, Cameron Smith and Sungjae Im react around the 18th green during match 18 during Saturday afternoon foursomes matches on day three of the 2019 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne Golf Course on December 14, 2019 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

“I’m in a tough spot as the captain because the 24 players that are going to be at Quail Hollow, all of them in some way shape or form would have been offered some kind of LIV deal. But the 24 that are going to be there are going to be the ones that decided not to do that and decided to stay loyal to their team and stay loyal to the PGA Tour. Really at the end of the day, speaking again now only for the International Team, those are the guys that I want. Those are the guys I want there because they’ve made that decision.

“With regards to Louis and Abe and all the other guys that have gone over, I had many conversations with those players, as I’m sure they had with a bunch of other people, but I had many conversations with those players and they all were very keenly aware that if they made this decision, there was a strong possibility they wouldn’t be able to play the Presidents Cup. It was a part of their decision making process. They still made the choice that that they wanted to make. The 12 that are gonna be there, they didn’t make that choice. So those are the guys that I want to be in the trenches with that week.”

Trevor Immelman, assistant captain of the International team for the 2019 Presidents Cup, looks on during the team photo session at Royal Melbourne Golf Course Australia. (Photo: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)

“It does make it more difficult because the Americans obviously have a lot of confidence after winning the Presidents Cup in Melbourne, historic performance in Wisconsin at Whistling Straits against the Europeans in the Ryder Cup, so they’re coming here with a ton of confidence and on home soil, playing in Charlotte, which is a huge, sprawling city. There’s going to be a ton of fans there, it’s gonna be huge, the build out is going to be massive. I think it’s going to be bigger than anything we’ve seen so far in the U.S. It’s going to be loud and rowdy and we’ll have to be ready for that, for sure, no doubt.

“The guys who played in New York a few years ago, they’ve spoken about that experience and what they learned from that week also being a loud, rowdy venue for them. So that’s for sure one of the things that we’ll have to be ready for, but once again, all you ever want as an athlete is that opportunity. That’s why you put the work in, to see if you can handle those kinds of things.”

The U.S. Team fans in the stands on the first tee during the Sunday singles matches at the Presidents Cup at Liberty National Golf Club on October 1, 2017, in Jersey City, New Jersey. (Photo by Chris Condon/PGA TOUR)

“It was a privilege, really, especially looking back at it now. At the time, it drove me nuts, drove a lot of us nuts, because we dedicated our lives to get good and you think you’re pretty good and then there’s this dude that you just know is so much better than you. Looking back at it now as I’m a bit more removed from it, it’s absolutely a privilege to be able to say that you competed against, I don’t like to say who’s the greatest ever, I always say Tiger and Jack are 1A and 1B and you can put them in whatever order you want.

“As your kids get older and you start reminiscing, or even talking to you about it, it was an absolute privilege. The guy was just able to do stuff that nobody else could do. You would see it in practice, you would see it in competition and in so many different aspects, not just the talent level and how he could move his body and control the clubface and consequently control the ball, but the way he would control the crowd, and fans, man it’s just so damn special. If it’s all said and done, if you look at greatest athletes of all time, you put his name in there. For me to have been able to compete against him and the two big events that I won here in the U.S., the Western Open and Masters, the fact that he finished second is pretty cool.”

Zach Johnson, the 2007 Masters champion, puts the green jacket on Trevor Immelman during the green jacket presentation after the final round of the Masters tournament at Augusta National Golf Club, Sunday, April 13, 2008, in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by C. Aluka Berry/The State/MCT via Getty Images)

“It’s so tough to tell because we don’t really know what’s going on with his body. He just says he’s in pain. That’s clear when we watch him that he’s in pain. We can see the limited movement and as the day progresses how he starts to limp more. The thing that concerns me is, we’re so worried about the leg and rightly so when you hear him say that there was a moment when he thought he might lose his leg, so we’re really concerned about that. But what bothers me is, we’re in a sense forgetting about all the other injuries as well, the back surgeries, the knee surgeries, fusion, how is all of the stuff with his leg affecting those things, like the back fusion, for instance?

“Surely the fact that his legs are out of balance, so to speak, and not as strong as what they once were, surely that’s putting more pressure on the back fusion. How long he’s going to be able to go for, nobody knows, and maybe he doesn’t even know, to be honest. Maybe he’s just day to day. But one thing I will say is the fact that this dude went through what he went through with the accident, and the rehab, and the surgeries, the fact that he played the father-son event and then the next two events he plays are majors and he makes the cut is ridiculously insane. Just for a second, take a look at the world-class players that missed the cut at the Masters and missed the cut at the PGA and then think what Tiger went through and the fact that he made the cut both ways. It’s ridiculous. It’s ridiculous.”

Tiger Woods and Trevor Immelman during the first round of the WGC-CA Championship held on the Blue Course at Doral Golf Resort and Spa in Doral, Florida, on March 22, 2007. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

“It’s pretty humbling. There’s no doubt about it. When you look at the last three lead analysts that CBS has had, you got Ken Venturi, Lanny Wadkins and Nick Faldo. You know, there’s a lot of power there. And so for me to be coming in on the back of those three, it’s pretty humbling, for sure.

“When I started doing TV, I was dipping my toe in the water, trying to figure it all out and learn a little bit more and see if I enjoyed it. Once I realized how much I enjoyed doing TV and enjoyed still being a part of the Tour, and still being out there amongst the players and the caddies and showing the PGA Tour’s product, still being in touch with the game, enjoying the team camaraderie from the broadcast crew, whether it’s people in front of the camera or behind the camera, all the people in the compound, once I realized that I really enjoyed that, that’s when this became the goal, to hopefully one day have an opportunity to be sitting in the 18th tower.

“Did I think it was going to happen this soon? Absolutely not. I can’t even say that it was really in the forefront of my mind at all this year. So when I got the call on the Sunday of the Canadian Open, from Sean McManus, I was taken aback. There’s no doubt about it.”

Nick Faldo and Trevor Immelman look on during a practice round prior to the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club on November 10, 2020 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)

“I’m sure that will be one of the obstacles but I think that would probably be the worst thing that I could possibly do, would be trying to be someone other than myself. I’ve just always felt that you’re gonna get caught out if you’re not being authentic. And it’s the same reason why I never lie, because if you lie, you’ve got to have a great memory. And it’s just too much hard work. So I tell people the truth, and they either like it or they don’t like it. I never mean to hurt anybody or be insensitive, but I tell people the truth, I give my straight opinion. Just because I can’t be bothered trying to remember all the different pieces of the puzzle. I’m always truth first and tell people exactly what I think.

“Along the same lines, I just don’t think you’re ever going to have any kind of longevity if you’re trying to be something that you actually are not. On the back of that, I would hope that the reason that they’ve decided to put me in this position is because they like what I’m currently doing. So it would be kind of stupid of me to change what I’m doing.”

Trevor Immelman calls the action for the Golf Channel/NBC Sports during the third round of The RSM Classic at the Seaside Course at Sea Island Golf Club on November 21, 2020 in St Simons Island, Georgia. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

“I don’t really miss anything. I’ll tell you why. I’ve worked so hard and really gave it everything that I could physically and mentally. I don’t really have any regrets or anything that bothers me. From that standpoint, I know that I did everything I could for the time that I could. Whatever I got out of it, I got out of it, but there’s no doubt there’s a couple of events that were just always special to play, that fun for the family, fun for me.”

Trevor Immelman of South Africa waits with his son Jacob on a green during the Masters Par 3 Contest.

“I think it’s been a massive blessing for me in in the fact that I could find something immediately that I enjoyed and jump into it and still use all the experience and knowledge that I have from playing at the highest level. So that for me, the opportunity to do the TV, has been a massive blessing, absolutely.

“I’ve learned two things about myself, the first thing I learned was I love the process. The result doesn’t get me going as much as a process and by the process what I mean is the work it takes to get to get better. Also in TV as I had to basically learn a whole new skill, and a whole new craft, that’s the part I love. ‘Okay, how can I how can I get better? What do I need to do differently?’ Seeking out people that I can try and learn from. That type of stuff gets me going. I realized through the TV process why I practiced so much when I was playing. That was actually the thing that that I enjoyed, maybe at times even more so than the competing, which is interesting.

Charles Barkley receives advice from Trevor Immelman during Capital One’s The Match at The Reserve at Moonlight Basin on July 06, 2021 in Big Sky, Montana. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images for The Match)

“I would absolutely love to do that. I knew him casually over the years while I was playing on Tour and you’d run into him and have chats. Him and I always kind of had a little bond after the ’08 Masters, because you go down there to Butler Cabin, as you’re going down there to do that interview, you just minutes ago made the final putt to win the Masters, so you’re pretty vulnerable as an athlete walking down there and he’s the person interviewing you. So I think he has a little bit of a bond with all of those guys that come down into Butler Cabin for that interview with the chairman. So we’ve always kind of had that as sort of the anchor to our relationship.

“Over the last few years as I’ve worked with CBS and since we’ve in particular gone to the super tower, where the whole announcers sit in one tower above 18, we spent a lot more time together, because we’re calling the action from the same room, essentially. So I’m watching him as he’s doing his thing, and he’s watching me as I’m doing my thing. We’re all looking at each other as we’re doing our work, so we’ve gotten to know each other more in that period. Since this announcement, I’ve been in touch with him numerous times. I would absolutely be looking to find a way somehow before the Farmers to get away with him for a couple days somewhere, meet him some way. I don’t know, maybe go to an NFL game, hang out a little bit.”

Jim Nantz on the 18th hole after the conclusion of the final round of the 2019 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am at Pebble Beach Golf Links. (Photo: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports)