Trevor Immelman has had many brushes with influential golfers, apart from his mentor Gary Player.

JUMP FOR JOY: Trevor Immelman celebrates a hole-in-one on No. 16 during the final round of the 2005 Masters. Immelman is the only Masters champion to make a hole-in-one in a Masters before winning the tournament. Fellow winners Raymond Floyd and Charles Coody both made holes-in-one after they won the tournament. (File/Staff)

DAVID FROST

When the Immelmans lived briefly in Arlington, Texas, eventual 10-time PGA Tour winner Frost lived with them temporarily as he relocated to Dallas and gave Immelman his first full set of clubs.

"That was my kind of entry to seeing this guy who was a professional golfer, and I was in love with the game," Immelman said.

JACK NICKLAUS

When the six-time Masters champion went to check out his first golf course project in South Africa, 13-year-old Immelman and his father joined him for lunch.

"The guy who brought him out knew my dad and knew about me and called to say they were having this lunch and would you like to bring Trevor and meet Jack Nicklaus," Immelman said. "It's crazy stuff. Mr. Nicklaus remembers it. I've spoken to him about it many times. Once again it was another scenario where, by pure luck, I just managed to meet the right people."

IAN WOOSNAM

The most notable guest at the Immelman household came in 1996 when the World Cup of Golf was in South Africa. Woosnam, the 1991 Masters champion from Wales, visited the house.

During one dinner, Immelman kicked his mother under the table to get her attention.

"Do you realize what that man has done?" he asked her. "He's won the Masters."

Woosnam (Associated Press)

"I must say that when Trevor made that statement about Ian Woosnam, the size of it and the implication of it didn't hit me the way it hit him," June Immelman said.

Immelman remains a bit incredulous.

"I don't think my mother fully understood the situation, so halfway through the dinner I gave her a kick," Immelman said. "I'm 15 or 16 and sitting there thinking, 'This is a major champion sitting in front of me here.'

"Like I've said, I paid so much attention to the history of the sport, and those things made a huge impression on me. It was a huge deal for me to be able to share the same space with those guys at different moments of my childhood."