Augusta National Golf Club might be a more popular spot next year during the PGA Tour's Florida Swing leading into the Masters Tournament than any of the four Sunshine State tournaments.

Trevor Immelman credited a weekend trip to Augusta in March with helping him have success at the Masters. (Rainier Ehrhardt/Staff)

Masters champion Trevor Immelman credited a weekend trip to Augusta on March 28-29 with helping him earn his first major championship Sunday.

"Whether I would have won or not, I don't know," said Immelman, who had played in five previous Masters but had just 16 tournament rounds under his belt because he'd missed the cut twice.

Immelman ended up beating four-time champion Tiger Woods by three shots in the 72nd Masters. Woods, who had played 50 tournament rounds at Augusta National before last week, didn't make a special early trip this year. Immelman is glad he did.

"I tell you, it definitely helps coming here before the tournament and just cementing in your mind certain lines off tees and the shape of the shots you want to hit off the tees and where you need to lay up to certain pin positions," Immelman said.

He made the trip with friends Justin Rose and Ian Poulter, who also benefitted, at least early in the tournament. Rose was a first-round leader with Immelman at 68 and Poulter was tied for sixth after shooting 70.

"I think it was beneficial for me to come here, jot it all down in my yardage book and just be thoroughly prepared for what was going to get thrown at me. I know that definitely happened," the champion said.

In addition to Immelman, Rose and Poulter, other players who made late March trips to Augusta National during the Florida Swing included Phil Mickelson, Nick Watney and Paul Casey. It must have helped: Mickelson tied for fifth place and Watney and Casey tied for 11th place.

The extra time at Augusta National gave Immelman confidence during the final round, which he entered with a two-shot lead after rounds of 68-68-69. He kept his emotions in check despite the 1-2 punch of final-round pressure and gusting winds of 35 mph.

Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez summed up the conditions after his final-round 69 by saying, "the difficult were very difficult."

"When I woke up (Sunday) morning and I peaked outside and saw the trees moving around, I knew it was going to be tough out there for us," said Immelman, who shot a final-round 75. "I knew I had to go out there and just stick to my game plan and play one shot at a time and just be tough. I'm proud of myself for doing that."

Immelman, who owned at least as share of the lead since the first round, fought the urge on the eve of the final round to picture himself in a green jacket.

"I didn't know whether to do that or not because I didn't want to get ahead of myself," he said. "I knew there were a lot of great champions vying for the championship. Every now and then I thought about the possibility that I could win. But I just kept pulling myself back to say, 'Hey, man, you've got to play one shot at a time, you've got to be tough out there.' And I just kept sticking to the process."

Immelman did everything well in the 72nd Masters. He led the field in driving accuracy, tied for second in greens in regulation, tied for fourth in driving distance and tied for fourth in putts with 112, only three more than the overall leader.

"I didn't look at Trevor and say, 'Now there's a guy that's probably got a chance to win this week,' but you don't count anybody out," said Stewart Cink, who tied for third place with Brandt Snedeker.

"But I'm not surprised," Cink said. "These days, guys are so good and they are so seasoned. He's what, 28? Even though he's young, he's been playing now in the pros for quite a while. He's played on international teams, World Cups, Presidents Cup, and he's played in a lot of these majors," Cink said.

Some thought Immelman was destined to win this Masters after his ball hung up on the bank of the 15th hole in Saturday's third round and didn't trickle into the water. He took advantage of the break and saved par.

The breaks evened out, though, when his drive on the 18th hole in the final round found a divot in the fairway.

"I hit the drive of the week into the biggest divot you've ever seen," Immelman said. "And we got there and my caddie said, 'it's not going to be easy. You knew it wasn't going to be easy.' And I just put an 8-iron back in my stance and just ripped at it and thankfully it came out straight and I was real happy to see that it stayed on the right level (of the green)."

Said Snedeker: "You get bad breaks out here. Trevor hit it in a divot on 18 and hit a great shot to the front of the green."