Immelman makes Abu Dhabi debut

Abu Dhabi: The large band of South African expatriates and golf fans in Abu Dhabi get a chance to see Trevor Immelman, winner of the 2008 Masters, make his first appearance in the capital and also his only one in the region this year.

"I am excited and it is obviously fantastic for me to be back here in the Middle East," said the 29-year-old South African, who won the Masters after recovering from a surgery to remove a benign tumour last year.

"Mentally and emotionally, going through the surgery and then winning at Augusta, coming to terms with all of that& I think I learnt a lot about myself," said Immelman, who made it after a long journey from Hawaii to Abu Dhabi.

"I flew from Maui to San Francisco to London to here. It was five hours, 10 hours and seven hours. But I tell you what, it was my first time flying on Etihad Airways and it was incredible, I must say. Best airline I've been on in a mile. So the last part of the trip was really cool," said Immelman, who skipped the events in the region over the last few years to concentrate on the American Tour.

But the Masters win seems to have paved the way for his appearance in Abu Dhabi.

"I was trying to establish myself there [American Tour]. At this time of the year I would normally be playing on the West Coast.

"Since I won the Masters, it's given me more opportunity to have long exemptions on both tours so that I can try and match the two up," said the South African, who is planning to take a few weeks off after Abu Dhabi.

"I am going home on Sunday to the States and I am planning on taking some time off. I played in the HSBC, then in Japan and then I played two events in South Africa, and then last week in Hawaii.

"I want to take some time off and then prepare for the rest of the season and be prepared for the run-up to the Augusta," said Immelman, who tees off at 7.40am today in the $2 million Abu Dhabi Championship alongside India's Jeev Milkha Singh and Denmark's Soren Kjeldsen.