Tiger is out of the woods and ready to pounce again

Tiger is ready to pounce in 2005 Seventy five years ago this summer an outstanding American amateur golfer wrote his name into the record books when he achieved the contemporary version of the modern Grand Slam.

During an incredible four month period the legendary Bobby Jones won the Open and Amateur Championships in both Britain and America and shortly afterwards decided to retire from competitive action with no worlds left to conquer.

I mention this here because this summer another equally impressive American golfer will endeavour to accomplish the modern Grand Slam by winning the Masters at Augusta National, the US Open at Pinehurst No. 2, the Open at St Andrews and the US PGA at Baltusrol. Tiger Woods has already become the first man to hold all four of the Majors at one time and this year has a great chance emulate Jones and win them all in one calendar year.

Three months ago it would have been ludicrous to suggest that Woods would dominate the 2005 Majors but that was before the 29 year-old Californian bounced back to form with successive victories at the Dunlop Phoenix tournament in Japan and his own Target World Challenge event in California. Out of the blue the former world number one ended the season with eight straight round in the 60s and the manner in which he compiled those scores suggested he was more comfortable with his swing than at any time during the previous 18 months.

The bookmakers have already slashed Woods' odds for winning the Masters to around 9-2 and were he to win at Augusta, or at one of this year's other Major venues, he would be right back on course to emulate the Golden Bear's haul of 18 Major titles. I firmly believe that Woods can still surpass the Nicklausian total of 18 Majors and would suggest that doubters need do no more than study their respective records to see why.

Woods has achieved eight victories in the 32 Majors he has contested as a professional and by a strange quirk of fate that is exactly the same as Nicklaus won through his first 32 Majors as a pro. The younger man is currently 0-10 in the Majors but Nicklaus also went through a similar barren 0-12 stretch between the ages of 27 to 30.

Nicklaus ended that hiccup with a run of six victories in his next 21 Major appearances and Woods knows he will have achieve something similar if he is to catch the golfer he reveres above all others. It is a tall order but where better to start than on two courses where he has won before (Augusta and St Andrews) and on two others (Pinehurst No. 2 and Baltusrol) that tend to produce top-quality winners. I anticipate the resurgent Woods will dominate this year's Majors and can foresee Annika Sorenstam doing something similar in the women's game.

I also look forward to solid years from the likes of Sergio Garcia, Luke Donald, Paul Casey, Justin Rose, Ian Poulter and the rest of Europe's Young Guns but if it is shooting stars you are after I suggest you look no further than two young Americans - Ryan Moore and Paula Creamer.

Moore will compete in this year's Walker Cup (which the dim-witted USGA has inexplicably scheduled against the US PGA) as arguably the most successful amateur since the aforementioned Jones. During 2004 this precocious 21-year-old student from the University of Nevada became the first man to win both the US Amateur and the US Amateur Public Links Championship in a single season.

He also won the NCAA Championship, the Western Amateur, the Sahalee Players Championship and the Mountain West Conference Championship and then ended the season in style when he led his country to victory at the World Amateur Team Championship.

He also took individual honours at that event. Moore is undoubtedly the most exciting young American golfer to emerge since Woods but he does have competition from Creamer, who has the talent to reverse the current trend that has seen Swedes, Koreans, Brits and Australians dominate the US LPGA Tour. Creamer is known as the Pink Panther (after her favourite colour) but she is no cartoon character as her performances as an amateur on last year's American women's circuit showed.

While Michelle Wie hogged most of the headlines the 18 year-old Creamer made seven cuts out of seven and at the ShopRite LPGA Classic came within one shot of becoming the first amateur to win a US LPGA Tour event since 1969.

Creamer went on to blitz the field at the American Tour's Qualifying School and now represents arguably the best chance the Americans have got to do something about the dismal run that saw just two US golfers under the age of 30 win on last year's US women's Tour (Cristie Kerr and Christina Kim).

Sorenstam and her contemporaries have been warned. Creamer is about to rise to the top.