National has healing effect on Trevor Immelman

Trevor Immelman has been looking for that one good result to kick start his resurgence, and perhaps Augusta National is the perfect place for that to happen for the 2008 Masters Tournament winner.

“It’s probably a little too early to tell,” Immelman said after shooting 4-under 68 to tie for fourth, two shots behind first-round co-leaders Sergio Garcia and Marc Leishman. “I mean, today it was nice to go out there and score well. ... Obviously I think coming here helps me because I know the greens so well and I’ve played here many times and know some of the lines. I think that helps me a little bit. But like I said, there’s a long way to go, and you know, hopefully I can keep this momentum going.

Shooting his best opening round at Augusta since starting with a pair of 68s to trigger his victory five years ago, Immelman kept up his run of success on a course he hasn’t missed a cut on since 2006.

“Any time in a major you can get out to a nice start and get a few under your belt, birdies are precious commodities at these types of tournaments,” he said. “So you try and bank them for as long as you can.”

The years since 2008 have been a struggle overall as Immelman dealt with a right wrist injury that required surgery in 2009 and the bad swing habits that came as aresult of the injury. The South African bottomed out at 294th in the world rankings in 2011 and still sits at No. 272.

But he’s been rounding his game back into more familiar form after reuniting with his old swing coach, Claude Harmon III, near the end of last season. Their immediate objective was to develop a one-dimensional, go-to shot that rebuilds confidence in what once was considered a model swing.

“I got into a lot of bad habits through the injuries, and with bad habits and bad play you lose confidence. It’s a slippery slope,” Immelman said last month. “But I’m starting to build all that up and the only thing I need now is a good result to get that going. I come to tournaments feeling like I can compete this year. I’ve just felt a lot more comfortable. It’s kind of inside me.”

The inroads he made on his full swing have been offset in recent weeks with his putting during the Florida swing. Returning to Augusta, where he’s so comfortable, he hit nine fairways and 15 greens Thursday and finished with 28 putts.

“Obviously, I think coming here helps me because I know the greens so well and I’ve played here many times and know some of the lines,” he said. “I think that helps me a little bit.”

A good finish this week and potentially challenging for a second green jacket could be just what Immelman needs to renew his standing among the game’s elite.

“I think one of the kinds of missing ingredients for me right now is I need to start to gain some of the confidence that I had five or six years ago when I had a nice run for a few years,” he said. “So I wouldn’t say I’m at that point yet to where I get to the middle of the round and say, ‘Okay, this is it.’ But I definitely found a nice rhythm on the back nine and started hitting some quality shots and then converted the putts. So that was a nice feeling.

“You know, I do remember what it was like. And so like I said, hopefully if I can keep some momentum going, I don’t think I’ll be over-awed by the situation if I had to hang around for a few more days. Like I said, I do remember what it was like and what it took to play well here. We’ll see what happens come (Friday).”

With all the strides Immelman has made, Harmon believes he is on the verge of a major breakthrough.

“I’d be shocked if he doesn’t win this year,” Harmon said last month. “He’s just too good a player.”