Tiger’s approach to 2008? Slam ‘within reason’

“It’s certainly doable, because I’ve done it before,” he said after winning the U.S. Open at Bethpage. “To win all four in a calendar year would just be different. Because at that one time, in my household, there was all four major championships right there. And no one else in the world had them but me.”

The starting line for a calendar slam is the Masters.

While he is a four-time champion, Woods has won only once in the last five years. That was in 2005, which featured the magical chip-in for birdie on the 16th and a playoff victory over Chris DiMarco. Inevitably, the question came up that day about when he starts thinking about the Grand Slam.

“I don’t know — when we go to IHOP or something,” he said.

Maturity has come to his game and his speech over the years, and that’s why it was mildly surprising to hear him speak so boldly about a calendar slam, something that has never been done at the professional level.

Reminded of his various comments about the Grand Slam on Monday, Woods shrugged his shoulders.

“I’ve gotten better as a player,” he said. “The last four, five, six years, I been in contention in more majors than when I first started out. Put that into more chances, and probably over the last two or three years, I’ve given myself a chance in just about every major. And that’s the whole idea.”

In his last 12 majors, since confidence caught up to his swing changes, Woods has finished out of the top four only twice. He missed the cut at Winged Foot in the ’06 U.S. Open in his first tournament since his father died, and he tied for 12th at the British Open last year.

“That’s what I’ve been the most proud of over the last couple of years,” he said. “I’ve really given myself a chance, sometimes only after two or three days, but I’m in the mix. Sometimes I’m on the periphery of contention, like the British last year, where you need to make a couple of putts to change things, and I just didn’t do it.

“But if that’s the worst I can do, that’s not too bad.”