Els hails Immelman's Augusta victory

Ernie Els says it was a great week for Trevor Immelman and for South African golf. Congratulating Immelman on his first major victory, Els says he has known the new champion since he was a boy and watched him develop as a player.

"He has always had an amazing talent for the game and he is a hard worker too. I am not surprised he won a major, not surprised at all. It was a great wire-to-wire win and I could not be more pleased for him," Els says on his website.

Els say missing the cut at Augusta for the second year running was about as bad as it gets. "But the way that course is set-up now, you really don't have to play that badly to finish four-over par for two rounds, as I did this year."I mean, we were talking the finest of fine lines between shooting a pair of 70s, which puts you right in the hunt at Augusta these days, and shooting two 74s and packing your bags." - Sapa