Golf-Talk of calendar slam for Tiger begins to escalate

By Mark Lamport-Stokes

LOS ANGELES, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Although the 2008 PGA Tour is just one week old, speculation is mounting that Tiger Woods could achieve golf's holy grail by sweeping all four majors for a calendar grand slam.

Woods himself alluded to the possibility last week and most of his peers accept it is extremely foolhardy to rule anything out when the runaway world number one is concerned.

The feat has never been accomplished in the professional game but Woods came desperately close with his so-called "Tiger Slam" after winning the 2001 Masters.

His two-shot victory at Augusta National meant he held all four majors at the same time, following his wins at the U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship the previous year.

"I think it's easily within reason," Woods said of a possible calendar slam on his Web site (www.tigerwoods.com) last Friday.

Many of his fellow PGA Tour players agree.

"It's tough to do but he's done it," world number three Steve Stricker told reporters at last week's season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship. "Not all in one calendar year but he's had them all. It looks like it's possible.

"There's such a big difference between Tiger Woods and the rest. I got to see Tiger play quite a bit at the end of the year and I played with him again at the Target (World Challenge).