Trevor Immelman was testimony that winning just one takes a lifetime of heart, stomach and scars. Emphasis on the latter.

Immelman, who shot 75 on a blustery course under excruciating pressure to win the 72nd Masters by three shots over Tiger Woods, did not come close to the top of his adversity scale.

He had visited that peak four months ago, when he was in a hospital bed, wondering if the tumour they just took out of his stomach was malignant (it turned out to be benign).

His 15-cm scar is a sharp reminder and he says: 'It was tough to come through that. But it was probably tougher for my family. I was so out of it at the time they could have shot me in the leg and I wouldn't have known about it.

'You realise it can get taken away from you so fast. The week before, I'm winning a golf tournament, the next week I'm lying in a hospital bed.

'And if you don't enjoy every step of the way, you might regret it. That would be sad, to regret a talent that you were given.'

No regrets on Sunday for the 28-year-old from Cape Town, who not only will live to see little Jacob, two, grow up, but can tell him about hanging on to finish at eight under - beating Woods, who was the talk of Augusta all week with the buzz about him possibly winning the Grand Slam (all four Majors) in 2008.

For this week, Immelman was the greatest player in the world, fulfilling the goal he first expressed when he took up the game at the age of five.

As he explained in a USGA questionnaire for an amateur championship 11 years ago: 'I never wanted to be a fireman or anything.'

After he hugged his wife Carminita and Jacob, and got congratulations from his parents, Johan and June ('My baby!' June shouted), he reflected on the sacrifices everybody had to make for him to play in tournaments and be as good as he is.

'Everybody involved yesterday reflected on how he hung tough when most of the other contenders dropped like rocks: Brandt Snedeker shot 77, Steve Flesch 78, Paul Casey 79, Ian Poulter 78.

Immelman blew a 30-inch birdie putt on No 7, bogeyed 8, chunked his second into the bunker on 9, but saved par. He made par on 11 by holing a tough 20-foot downhiller.

He even withstood hitting his tee shot into the water on No 16.

The champion got up and down for par from a bunker on 17 and from the biggest divot he had ever seen in the 18th fairway.

'His resolve - I guess that's the best way to put it - was phenomenal,' said Snedeker, who played with him in the final group and found the whole day overwhelming.

After tying for third at four under, Snedeker broke down in tears - more testimony to how daunting every single Major is.

'You know, I have no clue why I am so emotional,' Snedeker said. 'I was laughing out there, I'm crying in here. You know, it's just ...'' And then he put his teary face in a towel.

The champion was happy but composed, as he had been all day, as he had been while the biopsy was being taken last December.

'You know, I've always dreamed about winning Majors and deep down, I always thought I was good enough,' said Immelman. 'But, at times, you obviously doubt yourself.

'Here I am, after missing the cut last week, the Masters champion. It's the craziest thing I've ever heard of.'

Another crazy thing: Immelman is the only guy who can win the Grand Slam this year. Can that possibly happen?

Said the man with the scar and the Green Jacket: 'No, probably not.'

LOS ANGELES TIMES