Trevor Immelman - Part 5 (Broadcasting)

Music playing  00:00

Mike Gonzalez  00:15

So how did that change your life?

Immelman, Trevor  00:19

Dramatically! I mean, I probably wouldn't be talking to you guys right now if I hadn't won the Masters. So, we'll start there. 

Mike Gonzalez  00:24

OK, you're right. You're right.

Immelman, Trevor  00:27

That's right, you are right. You know, immeasurably and shucks. So, what are we in now? 2023? So, what am I? I'm 15 years removed. Am I? Oh, is that? How's my math on that? 

Devlin, Bruce  00:41

Yeah, yeah.

Immelman, Trevor  00:41

That's pretty good.

Mike Gonzalez  00:42

That's pretty good.

Immelman, Trevor  00:43

So, I'm 15 years removed, and still, you know, daily, somehow, some way I'm reminded of it each week. Whether it be a flag coming in the mail or scorecard in the mail or doing something like this with the both of you, or running into somebody. You know, it just, it never ceases to amaze me, the far-reaching power of Augusta National and the Masters. You know, the Open has the history and these incredible venues that the championship has played on. But the Masters in my mind transcends our sport to where people who don't necessarily pay much attention to golf. They know what the Masters is, they know what Augusta National is. And it always makes me chuckle when I have these moments where I run into different situations and experiences in my life because of that week. 

Devlin, Bruce  01:54

Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez  01:55

You get a nice little coat out of the deal. You get some fun dinners every Tuesday.

Immelman, Trevor  02:01

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

Mike Gonzalez  02:02

A lot of perks come with that one.

Immelman, Trevor  02:04

It's awesome. It's awesome.

Mike Gonzalez  02:07

So, we could go on and on about the Masters and your experience there. But just in the interest of time, let's get you to at least one more victory that was in 2013. But before that, and sometime after the Masters win of course, as you get into 2009, you get some nagging injuries that start creeping up on you.

Immelman, Trevor  02:28

Yeah. Not fond memories, these ones for the most part, there's all been fond memories. But this was a tough time, shortly after I won. In 2008, in about October, November, that year, started feeling some pain in my left wrist. I play golf right-handed, but I'm naturally left-handed, very left side dominant. It's one of the reasons why I've always been able to really turn the blade down, compress the ball, flight it low. And so, all of a sudden, my strength became my weakness. And I started feeling pain in my left wrist, tried my best to block it out, you know, we've got to remember, I'm 28 years old at this time, I still feel like I'm bulletproof. You know, take a couple painkillers, take a couple ibuprofen and keep firing, don't worry about anything. But before long it really started causing an issue. And not just from a pain standpoint, but because I was starting to change my swing without knowing it without wanting to. And you know, golf at the highest level is very, very delicate, doesn't matter who you are, you know, you can be Tiger Woods, you can be anybody. But when you're at elite level, it's a very delicate balance between being at the top and sustaining that. And being one little thing away, one little injury away from completely falling down the ranks or losing your confidence. And, you know, unfortunately, that's what happened to me. I tried to muscle my way through it. Being a Masters champion, I had countless numerous unbelievable opportunities to go all over the world as the Masters champion to play all over the world. And I wanted to do those things. And so, I kept putting this injury on the backburner in the back of my mind, taking more painkillers trying to find a way to work my way through it hoping that it would go away. And you know, when I look back at it now, that was the giant mistake I made was not having the wherewithal to take the break and get it seen to when it began. And before you know it, you got a whole host of a have bad habits, and you lose a little confidence. Now this puts me toward the end of 2009. Now I'm at a point to where it would even hurt when I was putting. So, as I would release the putter, I would even start to feel it and feel like a little, like a little jab, almost of pain. And your brain just doesn't ever want to go there, your brain doesn't want to allow your body does not allow you to put your body in a position to feel pain. So now that's why the bad habits start to creep in with technique. So now into 2009, I ended up going to a wrist specialist in New York City. And I'm like, I've been having this pain, been about a year, he looks at me like I'm crazy, because I've spent a year, you know, in his world, in New York City athletes, you know, you see NFL players or NBA players, they injure themselves, they have surgery the next day, and then they recover and get back on the court. He's like, you've been playing like this for a year, you will look at the MRIs and the scans and stuff. And he's like, I can't believe you have been playing golf with this situation. So do the surgery the next day. And now the process begins, I got a cast on it for a few weeks. It's about you know, a number of months before I can get back out and putt. And then I have to slowly but surely start to work my way back. And you know, the simple truth is I was just never the same. Yeah, I was just never the same, I didn't have the same movement, flexibility and strength in that lead wrist. They ended up going in in three places to fix the numerous issues that I had. And it was just never quite the same. Just didn't have that something special. And, you know, in golf, and I have this discussion with my son almost daily, the mental part of the game is so vitally important. And when you just have that little bit of doubt, creeping, it's catastrophic. Yeah, it is. And that's unfortunately, what happened to me. And was just never quite the same. I would get little glimpses of it every now and then, you know, thinking back to like, maybe 2012 or 2010, I played well at the Openish, like top twenty, 2012 I think I had a top 10 of the PGA, maybe the one that Jason Duffner won. So, there was little glimpses, but in my mind, I knew that things were different. 

Devlin, Bruce  08:08

Yeah. 

Immelman, Trevor  08:09

So, it became a bit of a slog, became a slog. And I saw the other side of the game, where, you know, you're really struggling, and you have a lot of tough conversations with yourself. There's a lot a lot, a lot of tough nights, you know, where there's some tears, and there's some anger, there's frustration, and you really lean on once again, you know, I mentioned my wife earlier, you lean on people like that, that, you know, have always had your back that, you know, have been there with you through thick and thin. And, you know, you lean on those people to try and navigate your way through, it can be a very lonely place, when you're at home, trying to figure out a way and then you take that moment, and then all of a sudden, you're in a position where you feel extremely exposed out on a Golf Course, in front of many TV, trying to put a score on the scorecard. And that's why I have such admiration for golfers that maintain elite level for a long period. Because we don't have teammates, we don't have the ability. You know, I watch these other sports where baseball for instance, you can have an all-star pitcher, who's a stud and he's a Cy Young winner, and he's just the man out there. And he's been killing it all year, and all of a sudden gets to the playoffs and he goes out and he has a couple bad innings, and they get a few hits and all of a sudden, they like they take him out. Yeah. And they bring someone else in. You know, golfers don't have that ability. At that time, I wish I had a way to, like,

Mike Gonzalez  10:02

Bring in the left-hander, bring in the left hander.

Immelman, Trevor  10:07

But, you know, that's one of the beauties of our sport, and why I don't think golfers get enough recognition, okay, it's not physical in the sense to where, you know, we have to be able to jump high or

Devlin, Bruce  10:27

Take body blows from people

Immelman, Trevor  10:28

Take body blows. But man, it is a mental beast that we have to deal with out there. And for the players that have been able to manage to stay at the top for a long time. To me, it's an incredible achievement. And, and so that was a tricky time for me in, in that period to where I knew mentally, that I just wasn't quite the same. And there's a bit of torment there when, like, your mind is willing, but your body is no longer able. Yeah, yeah. And you see that with, with athletes across the board, how at times, you know, that's when they can get crossed up a little bit, because you still feel like, you can do it, but your body just won't, it's not able to move with them.

Mike Gonzalez  11:22

So now you're age 33 or so. And maybe it's time to think about Plan B.

Immelman, Trevor  11:31

Well, I still hadn't thought too much about it. You know, I was fighting my way to keep my card on the PGA Tour. Somewhere along the lines there, I lost my card. And then I won a Korn Ferry playoff event to get my card back. And sort of kept struggling and finding my way, you know, top 10s were hard to come by good weeks was more like a 25th place. And so, you're grinding it out. And then I started playing in Europe again. And out of the blue, I got a phone call from somebody that introduced himself as a producer at Golf Channel here in Orlando. His name was Mark Summer, I'll never forget him. And wonderful guy that had a ton of experience. He came from ESPN to Golf Channel and did an amazing job at both places. And he asked me flat out he was like; you don't know me? My name is Mark Summer with Golf Channel. Have you ever thought about doing TV? I was like what? And I was like, well, No is the answer. I'm still playing. And he was like, Yeah, I know. You're still playing. I'm not asking you to stop playing. But have you ever thought about it? And I was like, well, no, but tell me more. And he's like, Okay, well, let's go have lunch and, and talk about it. And about a week later, we went and had lunch. And he convinced me to come in a few days later and do like an audition and see the studios when they were still based down here in in Orlando and went down and hung out for the day and did an audition and he was like whoa, you see that wasn't so bad. I think you can be really good at this. In fact, why don't you come on and work a few shows and we'll just see. And that was the start of it. And then I started doing some Golf Channel morning drive back in the day I started doing golf Central and started doing shows with you know, people that are famous in the Gulf TV industry like people like Gary Williams people like Brandel Chamblee, Frank Nobilo You know, all these types of people. And I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed being plugged into the game, I enjoyed this, the studying aspect of it. And what I learned about myself through that process was I like; I like the climb I like the part of acquiring a new skill and of learning new things and trying new things. That is the part that really gets me going as a person. And so here I was in my mid to late 30s And I was having to learn something completely different, a whole new skill, but I had the backup of all my golfing experience, so I was talking about golf, but I was having to understand TV and how that works. So, I started getting a number of reps doing like live shows live from like I said morning drives waking up at three in the morning going do production meetings coming on air at 6am. So, I really understanding the TV business and I just slowly but surely started getting More and more breaks. Turner Sports then asked me to come and work a PGA Championship, they used to do the early coverage at the PGA Championship. So, I got to do that a couple times. And, you know, set up there with another broadcasting legend in Ernie Johnson, who to this day is one of my favorites to watch on TV. And so now here I am, I'm, I'm now back in the teenage days, so to speak, watching Gary and Ernie and Mark McNulty and Nick Price. And I'm learning from all of these people, except now, you know, it's in a TV aspect. And I got such a kick out of that I got a kick out of being on a team, and being a part of something bigger than myself, working together with a number of people. And it really has been a wonderful ride. And so now to in TV terms, very quickly, get to this position, analyst for CBS has, it's been a wild ride. But I can sit here and tell you guys from the bottom of my heart that I love my job. I love my job. I enjoy every single second of it. The teammates I work with in front and behind the camera, you know, we have hundreds of people that work for CBS putting a golf show on putting the PGA Tour on CBS. And we just have a blast doing it. And it's something that I hope to be able to do for a very long time.

Mike Gonzalez  16:35

It sure seems like a fun group too, of course, we've had Baker-Finch on the program, and we've had Dottie on the program. You look at the pedigree, the fellas that came before you in that role, right? I mean, you can kind of almost go back to Cary Middlecoff. 

Immelman, Trevor  16:52

That's right. 

Mike Gonzalez  16:52

Right. And Ken Venturi and Lanny Wadkins and Sir Nick Faldo. That's quite a lineup there before we get to the young Trevor Immelman.

Immelman, Trevor  17:03

No, it's nuts when you think about it in that sense. Yeah, I think I'm the fifth lead analyst for CBS. I try my best not to think about stuff like that, because it can, it can unsettle you in the sense of making you too careful. I think at least this is my perspective. I think the reason I'm there, the reason I'm in that position is because I love the game. And I have a particular energy about that. I'm excited when I talk about the golf courses and about the players and about the shots they're hitting. And explaining how good that shot is and how unlikely that shot is, and how amazing it is that Rory McIlroy can hit this bunker shot in this moment, and hit this 350 yard drive and find the middle with the FedEx Cup on the line or trying to win a major or, you know, there's just like, I get, I get such a kick out of that. And being a part of this team, like you say something bigger than yourself trying to put a high-quality product on TV. You know, I think you gotta really feel and Jim Nance talk about this a lot, you've got to feel like you are sitting at home, on a couch with your friends talking about the game. You've got to allow people to feel like that, you know, they're at home on the couch, they're in a pub with their buddies. They're watching a sport they love. You're having fun with them, you every now and then showing them something, teaching them something, making them laugh, keeping them interested. You know, you've got to be natural and authentic. And so, when I think about men, you're only the fifth guy to hold this position. You're sitting next to broadcasting royalty in gym finance. You are one of the main voices of the game, like all that stuff would freak me out too much. So, I don't know. I don't think about that. Because I feel like it'll make me to care. You know, I want to be as natural as I can at all times.

Mike Gonzalez  19:28

Yeah. You know, I think about, I'm going back now in my own life, you know, as a kid. And I think about who told the stories of all the great sports events and championships of my youth right? And the names that pop up are, Jack Buck and Harry Carey and Chris Schenkel and Curt Gowdy and Vin Scully and, and Pat Summerall, and, whether it's football, golf, whatever, and so I'm sure when those guys were doing what you're doing now, they weren't thinking about it that much in terms of the impact it's having on the creating the memories of people's youth. But I think in 20 years, you'll have the perspective looking back and say, oh, wow, that was pretty cool. 

Immelman, Trevor  20:14

Yeah, 

Mike Gonzalez  20:14

Having that opportunity. 

Immelman, Trevor  20:15

Yeah. Look, it's an amazing opportunity. And I'm sure looking back in 20 years from now, if I'm blessed enough to be able to keep this job that long. There'll be some, some fun stories to tell and some amazing moments. But already very quickly, the first year with CBS has been tremendous in our sport, whether you like it or not, is in the news. There's a lot going on things are changing. And so, for me to be in Butler Cabin calling my first Masters with Jim Nantz and having such an amazing Sunday, a long Sunday because of the weather delays. What did we have 28 or 29 holes on that Sunday? You got two heavyweights in Koepka and Rahm going at it. That was a mammoth day, seeing John Rahm win. All the emotion and history of Seve and his history at Augusta National and how much he's meant to Spanish golf and John Rahm, and then you fast forward to the PGA Championship. And can Brooks now forget about what happened on Sunday at the Masters where he had the lead and coughed it up. All the stuff about LIV and the division in the game. You know, how's he going to handle all these things? Great back and forth there with Hovland and a couple others. And he gets his fifth major, which is spectacular. His third PGA Championship, which is spectacular. So quite quickly, you know, you have what happened in the majors, you have a fantastic story at the Canadian Open with Nick Taylor being the first Canadian to win in more than 50 years. The putt for eagle after the long playoff, suns going down, it's raining. And we had so many great moments. Fast forward to Hovland's 61 in the final round of the BMW and then he's brilliant, played the Tour Championship. It was a historic season for us as well, because for the first time all of the playoffs were on CBS. So, it was spectacular. So many new, and I don't mean that in an arrogant way. I mean that because that's how much fun we had. 

Devlin, Bruce  20:15

Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez  22:46

Yeah, 

Devlin, Bruce  22:46

yeah. 

Immelman, Trevor  22:48

So many new technologies, the walk and talks, miking players up, then having the guts to, in the middle of their round, put an earpiece in and talk to us and tell us what's going through their minds. You know, a lot of cool stuff happened this season. And hopefully we can keep building on that.

Mike Gonzalez  23:07

Well, I hope you've got a lot of great years ahead of you at CBS. And it's always good to hear that you're enjoying the ride while it's lasting. Before we let you go, there's always a handful of questions that we like to ask you as we kind of put a bow on this thing, and I'm going to let Mr. Devlin ask the first question.

Devlin, Bruce  23:28

Okay, you ready?

Immelman, Trevor  23:29

I'm ready. I think I'm ready. I might not be.

Devlin, Bruce  23:34

Let me take you as you are today and take you back to when you first turned pro. What would you have done differently

Immelman, Trevor  23:47

I would have practiced less and played more. I think that I spent way too much time on the range chasing perfect. Which I unfortunately eventually learned was unattainable. Rather than spending more time out on the Golf Course learning how to play the game, the nuances of the game, scoring different shots. That's one thing that I would have changed for sure.

Mike Gonzalez  24:30

All right, well, that's fair enough. Second question is an easy one. I want to give you one career mulligan. Where do you take it?

Immelman, Trevor  24:39

Ahhh, there’s a couple, there's a couple for sure.

Mike Gonzalez  24:44

It didn't take long.

Immelman, Trevor  24:45

Yeah, but I'm going to go back to that three putt on the 18th green at Quail Hollow. And I've had so many wonderful moments at Quail Hollow. I love that club and I'm fortunate to be a member there but gosh, I wish I'd have lagged that 30-footer down there and tapped it in and got my first win that week.

Mike Gonzalez  25:06

Just cozy it up there and okay. All right. Well, that's a good one, that's a good one.

Devlin, Bruce  25:11

We're going to finish it off with the last question. How would you like to be remembered?

Immelman, Trevor  25:21

You know, I've never Bruce, I've never seen myself as somebody that's had that big of an impact in the game that I'm going to be remembered for, for any particular part of it. So, it's not something that I've spent that much time mulling over. But you know, you, I think I just like to be remembered as it is a good guy, an authentic person. Somebody that loved the game, somebody that gave back to the game, and treated everybody equally. You know, those are the kinds of things that that I'm after, at this point in my life. 

Devlin, Bruce  26:13

well, you gave a lot to us today, Mr. Immelman. We have really appreciated the time you spent with us today telling your life story. And it's been a very interesting one. And personally, thanks for your time. It's been great.

Immelman, Trevor  26:27

Well, it's been a treat for me to hang out with you guys and talk about the game that we all love, the game that's given us so much. Thank you guys.

Mike Gonzalez  26:36

Thank you for listening to another episode of FORE the Good of the Game and please, wherever you listen to your podcast on Apple and Spotify, if you like what you hear, please subscribe, spread the word and tell your friends. Until we tee it up again, FORE the Good of the Game, so long everybody.

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