PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Trevor Immelman's lot in life has been easily described since he won the Masters title last month.
Aside from the perks of winning, it's been mostly awful.
For the second time in the past 13 months, Immelman came down with a stomach virus, forcing him to withdraw before the first round of the Players Championship on Thursday morning.
It was merely the latest personal speed bump since he slipped into the green jacket. Immelman took a week off after winning the Masters and then played at the Byron Nelson Championship, where he shot 78-75 to miss the cut. Of the 16 first-time major winners this decade, he was the first to miss the cut in his next start.
Last week at the Wachovia Championship, he shot 76-73 and also missed the weekend.
"Trevor is certainly disappointed with the timing of the illness, as the Players Championship is a tournament that he and all the players look forward to each year," said Jon Wagner, his agent. "His main focus now, though, is to use this time that he had previously scheduled off to get well and prepare himself for his next event."
Immelman, 28, returned home to Orlando, Fla., to recover. Last year before the Masters, Immelman came down with a bug and had to spend several hours in a hospital emergency room getting intravenous fluids, though he somehow managed to complete the entire tournament.
