Trevor Immelman not worried after second-round 75

Trevor Immelman is smart enough to learn from his mistakes and not beat himself up over them.

“You’re giving it your best on every shot,” he said Fri­day after carding 3-over 75 in the second round of the Mas­ters and is at 1-under for the tournament. “If I had to sit here and second-guess every shot over my 13-year career, I probably would be in a mental institution.”

That’s not to say he doesn’t look back, having a victory at the 2008 Masters as a template for how to win at Au­gus­ta National. But he’s looking ahead to the weekend.

“I know what it takes to win here, and I know where the ball needs to be put and where it needs to be left on the second shot,” said Immelman, 33. “It’s just the execution part. If I play my best golf and I can execute, I certainly have the experience to get it done.”

He started the day tied for fourth at 4-under 68 after a bogey-free first round in which he said he was able to take advantage of good approach shots and recover from some bad ones.

On Friday, he described the course as tricky with challenging pin placements, all the more difficult with stronger breezes.

“It’s a different animal today,” he said, citing the pin placements. “You’ve got to be a man out there today.”

He battled through cross breezes at the par-4 first hole with a par and was happy to take it.

“No. 1 right off the bat is really hard,” he said. “If you want to have some fun, sit next to that green all afternoon.”

The second hole, a 575-yard par-5, was even better. Im­mel­man needed only a 4-foot putt for a birdie.

“I was really happy with the start. I couldn’t ask for any more,” said Immelman, who kept any enthusiasm under wraps. “If you get ahead of yourself at a tournament like this or a course like this, you are pretty inexperienced.”

Immelman has made eight cuts in his 10 previous Masters starts, including every year since his 2008 victory despite dealing with right wrist surgery in 2009 and other ailments.

He went on to bogey No. 5 on Thursday but got back to 5-under with a birdie at No. 8; however, a bogey at No. 9, a double bogey at No. 11 and a bogey at the 16th hole pushed him back to 1-under.

“It is what it is. I can’t do anything about it now,” Immelman said. “I fought as hard as I could when I was out there. But I don’t think I’ll be too far away. If I play my best golf on the weekend, I should have a chance.”