Immelman backs rookie McIlroy

Trevor Immelman insisted today that Rory McIlroy has a chance to succeed him as Masters champion next month – if he can show he possesses the X-factor.

South African Immelman won last April on his seventh visit to Augusta and, as a keen historian on the game, knows that Fuzzy Zoeller is the only debutant to lift the title since 1935.

But when asked about the chances of the new kid on the block, 19-year-old McIlroy, he said: “It’s definitely not impossible.

“Fuzzy Zoeller did it in 1979 and although Tiger (Woods) had played three times as an amateur it was his first as a pro when he won in 1997.

“Obviously there’s going to be a lot of pressure on him and he’s going to have feelings that he has not had before mentally and emotionally.

“He has all the physical talents, but a there are a whole host of guys who do and there’s a little bit of an X-factor in doing something great in sport.

“Players find that out when the moment arises and time will tell whether he has that little X-factor.”

McIlroy, winner of his first European Tour title in Dubai last month, played his first professional event in America only last week and reached the quarter-finals of the WGC-Accenture Match Play before losing to eventual winner Geoff Ogilvy.

Now in Florida for the Honda Classic starting tomorrow, he is already into the world’s top 20 and stablemate Ernie Els has gone on as record as saying he could be the next No 1.

Immelman won his first major aged 28 and admits he was surprised it came that early for him.

“I thought I would be going into my prime in my 30s rather than winning a major in my 20s and for a little while afterwards it was difficult to see myself as a major champion.

“Mentally I definitely needed to find a way to digest it. I started putting too much pressure on myself to do it again.”

In the other three majors last season he finished 65th at the US Open, 19th in The Open and missed the cut at the US PGA.

What is a definite feather in his cap heading towards his defence, though, is that he is the last player to beat Woods in a major. The world No 1 finished second to him before triumphing at Torrey Pines and then missing the rest of the year following knee surgery.

“In my first PGA Tour win Tiger finished second as well. They’re probably only the two times out of 150 that we’ve faced off that I’ve managed to beat him, but those are the things that are special to me and I’ll be able to tell my kids and grandkids.”