Grand aspirations for Tiger Woods

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Could this be the year it finally happens? Will this be golf's long-awaited Summer of Slam? Has the time arrived for Tiger Woods to win the game's first modern Grand Slam and make his greatest statement of golf greatness yet? You've got to like his chances.Now more than ever.Not only does the major championship calendar set up well for him in 2008 -- not only is he, at age 32, entering what should be the prime of his already-legendary career -- but he's also poised to play his best golf yet.In fact, Woods recently said he was in the best shape of his life."I'm definitely stronger," he said, alluding to the workout regimen he followed during a 10-week break at the end of last year.That's bad news for his challengers on the PGA Tour, which begins another season with Woods clearly the odds-on choice to win every tournament he plays.Including the majors, especially this year.He'll go to Augusta National in April heavily favored to win The Masters, which he has won four times. Then comes the U.S. Open, which will be played in June at Torrey Pines, where he has won five Buick Invitationals.From there, he'll go to the British Open, which will be played in July at Royal Birkdale, where he finished third in 1999.The year's final major, the PGA Championship, will be played in August at Michigan's Oakland Hills. And although Woods doesn't have much of a history on that course, he did make the cut there as an amateur playing in the 1996 U.S. Open.Of course, if Woods wins at Augusta, Torrey Pines and Royal Birkdale and goes to Oakland Hills with a chance to win the Grand Slam, don't bet against him.He's not only the world's best golfer, he's the best closer in sports. He'd find a way to win."I think it's easily within reason," Woods said of winning the Grand Slam in a story on his tigerwoods.com Web site.Easily? Maybe for him.After all, he already has created a variation of that feat -- fittingly dubbed "The Tiger Slam" -- after he won his second Masters jacket in 2001. That victory followed triumphs at the 2000 U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship, which meant he held all four major titles at the same time.But nobody has won all four in the same calendar year.Not Jack Nicklaus.Not Ben Hogan.Not even the great Bobby Jones, whose sweep of the U.S. Open, British Open, U.S. Amateur and British Amateur in 1930 -- four years before the inaugural Masters tournament -- was called golf's first Grand Slam.The closest anyone has come to winning the modern Grand Slam was Ben Hogan in 1953, when he became the only player to win the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open in the same year. But because the British Open and PGA Championship nearly overlapped back then, and because trans-Atlantic travel at that time was difficult, he didn't get a shot completing the Slam.Hogan, however, was one of only five golfers to win the career Grand Slam. The others were Gene Sarazen, Gary Player, Nicklaus and Woods. Nicklaus won each of the four majors at least three times. Woods has won each of them at least twice.But Woods is still swinging.He has won 13 professional majors, just five shy of Nicklaus' record. He has won 61 Tour events. He has occupied the top spot in the World Golf Rankings for a record 477 weeks, averaging more than twice the rankings points as No. 2 Phil Mickelson.And according to Golf Digest, Woods has made nearly $770 million in on-course earnings and endorsements -- including a whopping $122.7 million in 2007 -- since turning pro in 1996.So, barring some unforeseen circumstance, Woods should surpass Nicklaus' 18 majors and become the world's first billion-dollar athlete before the decade is done.But he hasn't won the Grand Slam.Not in a calendar year.Not yet.But based on what we saw at the end of 2007, when Woods won five times in his last six starts and was striking the ball better than at any time since his monster season in 2000, this could be the year.He's rested and fit. He's sharp and hungry. He's so much better than everyone else that he alone decides whether he wins or loses.If Woods plays well, he wins. And nobody can stop him.Especially at the majors.Yes, it's early. It's only January. But it's not too soon wonder about Woods and what's ahead.Will this be the Summer of Slam? You've got to like his chances.Now more than ever. (Ray McNulty is sports columnist for Scripps Treasure Coast (Fla.) Newspapers, The Stuart News, Fort Pierce Tribune and Vero Beach Press Journal. Contact him at ray.mcnulty@scripps.com or on the Web at www.tcpalm.com.)