WHEN he was just 12, and already a scratch golfer, Trevor Immelman said in an interview that his goal was to be the planet's best player.

Having taken up the game at the age of five, his entire life has been geared to getting to the top. On Sunday, Immelman showed the world why those who knew him well had little doubt that he would fulfil his destiny.

"I've always dreamed about winning Majors and deep down I always thought I was good enough," the 28-year-old said after receiving the coveted green jacket from Zach Johnson, last year's champion.

He will forever be known as Masters champion, 2008. He knows now he is good enough.

But whenever somebody wins their first Major, there are always questions about whether that person will be a one-Major wonder, such as Ben Curtis, Todd Hamilton and many more who seem to have disappeared altogether after winning one of golf's greatest prizes.

Immelman, I believe, has the staying power. Watching him walking the fairways on Sunday, there was an aura about him. Not the "Oh my God, I'm leading the Masters" kind of panicky pride. More like: "This is what I've worked for. Stay focused."

And focused he had to be. This was not a charging, adrenalin-pumping back nine. It was more like US Open conditions where birdies are like hens' teeth, and Immelman won by making the fewest mistakes.

The main surprise is that he hasn't really featured in Majors -- before this one he finished in the top 10 only twice, and took 5th place at the 2005 Masters and a tie for 6th at the PGA Championship last year.

And he had been suffering from ill health before and after his win in the Nedbank Challenge in Sun City in December. In fact, he has missed four cuts on the PGA Tour this year and his highest finish has been 17th.

"This has been the ultimate roller coaster ride, and I hate roller coasters," Immelman said. "Here I am after missing the cut last week, and I'm the Masters champion. It's the craziest thing I've ever heard of."

Yet when his moment came, he showed gritty determination and intense concentration to prevent any sort of disastrous free fall that befell several of his closest challengers.

His 75 on Sunday tied Arnold Palmer's 1962 score for the highest final round by a Masters champion, but that just made it look closer than it was.

The three players closest to Immelman at the start of play shot a combined 18 over par as strong winds blew their chances away and prevented anyone from making a serious charge.

Only four players broke par on Sunday and among those just Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez finished in the top 10 -- his 68 by far the best round of the day.

As Associated Press writer Paul Newberry put it: "Maybe the green jackets at Augusta National went a little overboard with their redesign a few years ago, which was called a 'Tiger proofing' but basically turned this into a US Open wannabe.

"Forget about shooting 31 on the back side to win, as Jack Nicklaus did in 1986. Now, it's just a matter of who makes the most pars and avoids the calamitous mistake."

On such days, fortitude is required, and Immelman knew it.

"It was a tough day out there and I was just trying to be tough. That's all I kept saying to myself, just hang in there and play one shot at a time," he said.

"There's a disaster around every corner, as I showed on 16 (which he double-bogeyed after hitting into water). I just tried to hang in there. I'm proud of myself for doing that. I can't believe I did it."

That mental toughness is what makes Immelman a cham-pion, and will make him a champion again, and again.