Immelman Blog: Acing the eighth a huge thrill

In his first blog from Oakmont, Trevor Immelman had plenty to write about. Not the least of which was his unlikely hole-in-one on the monsterously long par-3 eighth, a hole the South African called "kind of ridiculous."

Editor's note: Trevor Immelman is playing in his fourth U.S. Open this week. The young South African, who won his first PGA TOUR event last year, tied for 21st at Winged Foot last year. He had three top-10s in his first seven events this year before contracting a stomach ailment after the Masters that caused him to lose more than 20 pounds. He's slowly regained his strength, though, and Immelman is anxious to test his game at Oakmont.

OAKMONT, Pa. -- Today was something special. I aced the eighth hole during my practice round. It's funny. The flag on the green was so far away that you couldn't see the ball land, and it was so far away you couldn't hear the crowd do anything, either. We played it from the back and the flag was in the back. I hit 3-wood today. I was aiming at the middle of the green but I pulled it slightly and it just went dead straight. We saw it bounce so I knew it didn't land in the bunker, but then we didn't see anything after that. We were walking up to the green wondering where in the hell the ball had gone -- and we found it in the hole. The fans started clapping. My caddy was walking past the hole and then he took it out and threw it into the crowd before I could keep it. It was crazy. I'll definitely take that during the tournament. To be honest, if you just hit it on the green there, you've hit an incredible shot. So for it to go in, that's once in a lifetime.

The eighth hole is quite a test. Seriously, a 288-yard par 3 is kind of ridiculous. I hit a 3-wood there yesterday, too, and then off the tee just in front, I hit a 3-iron. Today the wind was off to the left a little. You have a little bit more of a chance from the left bunker because there's not as big of a lip there as some of these bunkers have. If you can kind of run it up that left bunker to green-high you normally have a fairly simple bunker shot so you're hoping to get it up and down. But just like every other shot on this golf course, you've got to suck it up. Three's not too much room for error.

My game is starting to come around a little bit. I think losing all that weight took more out of me than I admitted to and wanted to believe. I've picked up 12 pounds so I'm only 10 short now, and I feel a lot stronger. I feel like my game is starting to come around a little bit. Hopefully, I can start playing a little bit better and get some confidence and finish off the year strong. Confidence is the main thing that I'm missing right now. Everyone who plays on TOUR is a great golfer. Any week somebody can put it together and win a tournament, so confidence is definitely a massive factor of playing well.

This is an extremely demanding golf course - more demanding than any course I've ever seen. It never really ends. You've got a real tough tee shot and you hit that and you manage to get it down the fairway. Then you have to hit a great second shot to get it on the green. Then you get to the green -- and that's when the work really starts. It's just a tough course. You have to go out there, like I said, and just play the best you can and be able to accept that you're going to have some interesting shots. You can't afford to let it rattle you.