Immelman close to having no stomach for Riviera

Trevor Immelman of South Africa hits from a sand trap on the second green during final round play in the 2010 Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, April 11, 2010.

PACIFIC PALISADES, California (Reuters) - Former Masters champion Trevor Immelman came close to withdrawing from the Northern Trust Open on Thursday after suffering a bout of food poisoning overnight.

The 31-year-old South African reacted badly to a chicken dinner he ordered from his hotel's room service but managed to recover in time to shoot a one-under-par 70 in the opening round at Riviera Country Club.

"From about 10 o'clock , I was throwing up all night long," Immelman told Reuters of his far-from-ideal preparation for the PGA Tour event. "I didn't get much sleep. My alarm went off at five and I took some medication to try and slow things down.

"At one point, I didn't think I would play today. Around midnight, I was like: 'Man, there's no way.' I was getting 15-minute breaks between my restroom stops so I was a little concerned."

Despite being handicapped by his fitful night's sleep, Immelman was relatively happy with his opening round.

"I played OK," the 2008 Masters champion said after carding two birdies and a bogey on a cool, sun-splashed day at Riviera. "I hit some good drives and some good iron shots coming down the back nine and I putted well.

"Hopefully I will find something else that I can take to the course tomorrow and put together some real solid shots."

In many ways, one night's broken sleep was a mere blip for Immelman who had surgery on his left wrist in 2009 and has struggled for fitness and consistency over the last two years.

RANKING PLUMMETED

"It's been rough," said the dapper South African who has plummeted to a lowly 294th in the world rankings from a career-high 12th in 2007. "When you are not out here competing and playing well, you lose confidence.

"But there are people who are much more unfortunate than how I have been. I've just got to grin and bear it and take solace in the fact that I am only 31. I still feel like I've got a lot of good stuff ahead of me."

Immelman, a medium-length hitter renowned for his ball-striking and course management, had wrist surgery in October of 2009 after suffering from tendinitis for much of that season.

Asked what had been his lowest point, the South African replied: "The whole of '09 and most of last year really ... leading up to the surgery where I could barely play and I shouldn't even have been playing.

"And then after the surgery, the first six or seven months of last year, it was still pretty painful and I still couldn't try and swing the way I wanted to swing, couldn't practice the way I wanted to practice."

Immelman, who was limited to 13 events on the 2009 PGA Tour and 19 last year, said he began to feel a lot better after the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits in August.

"Now I don't have any pain in the wrist at all," he added. "The wrist is fully healed. Now it's just a matter of me getting out there and hitting the right shots at the right time to build some momentum again."

On the practice range, the four-times European Tour winner feels his game is close to his best but he has not yet been able to maintain consistency under tournament pressure.

"But this is such a funny game because at any point you can hit one shot at the right time and it can click and you can gain some momentum," Immelman said.

"You shoot a 65 and you back it up the next day and you're away. So you've just got to keep believing that."

(Editing by Frank Pingue; To comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)