Immelman happy to be back

Trevor Immelman found some of his long lost form on Saturday after being struck by a debilitating illness at the Masters in April as the South African carded six birdies in a four-under-par 66 in the third round of the US PGA Championship.

Immelman somehow completed four rounds at Augusta National, but spent the following couple of weeks in bed with what a specialist eventually diagnosed as a stomach parasite.

He lost more than 20 pounds, and though he was able to resume playing in early May, it’s been pretty slim pickings.

But at Southern Hills he moved into an overall tie for 13th at one-over-par 221, eight strokes behind leader Tiger Woods.

“I had a nice start to the year and the last couple of months played some awful golf,” he said. “At our level, it’s all about confidence.

“When you have confidence in your game, you can play the course the way it’s supposed to be played.”

Despite his mediocre form the past four months, Immelman is expected to make the International team for next month’s Presidents Cup against the United States.

“I took a couple of packs of medication and managed to make it through Augusta, eating pretty much just toast, trying not to take anything that would make me go,” he said. “Monday evening it started up again, and I had to go to the hospital in Hilton Head. I got some antibiotics but there was not way I could play (the Heritage), so I withdrew, went home to Orlando.

“I was fine for about four or five days, and then it came back worse than ever. At that point, I started throwing up as well. I had no appetite, constantly had a fever, and really didn’t know what was going on.”