PGA Championship: How Trevor Immelman prepares to cover star-studded field

CNN
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Oak Hill Country Club’s East Course has undergone substantial transformations since the last time it hosted the PGA Championship 20 years ago.

So too has one of the players that competed there.

As Trevor Immelman returns to leafy Rochester, NY, for the 105th edition of the tournament on Thursday, he does so not as a wide-eyed 23-year-old chasing his first major, but as a seasoned broadcaster heading up TV coverage.

Promoted to lead golf analyst for CBS in January following Nick Faldo’s retirement, the South African is less than half a year into his new role in the hot seat.

With PGA Tour events coming thick and fast, the 2008 Masters champion has had to learn quickly. Fortunately, his biggest lesson learned was pretty much muscle memory already.

“Be ready,” Immelman told CNN Sport.

“When I was playing, I was the type of guy that loved to practice, loved to prepare for any scenario. I treat it the same way with broadcasting, so I do a lot of research, a lot of homework. I like to get out to venues and be in amongst the players and the caddies and the coaches and try and pick up as many little nuggets as I can and then be ready.

“Because, with live sport, you never quite know what’s going to happen. We could come on the air and Rory McIlroy makes a hole in one or some other player makes a triple bogey and you’ve got to be able to react really quickly. So I find the more preparation I can do, the better I’m going to be able to react when something happens.”

That mantra was tested at the RBC Heritage in April when Jon Rahm, a week on from claiming a green jacket of his own at The Masters, joined Immelman to offer some impromptu live analysis on the final round.

It was a daunting gig for a man who had just completed yet another 72 holes of golf, yet the Spaniard received rave reviews for his insight, not that Immelman was surprised.

“He’s extremely smart and thoughtful, and it’s massively impressive to me that English is his second language,” Immelman said.

“He speaks so fluently and really gets his point across in a very clear, smart way. But I can’t say that I’m really worried about him taking my job because…