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| |  Monday, 2 April, 2001, 16:29 GMT 17:29 UK Will Tiger roar in Augusta?  The 65th US Masters in Augusta this week has been billed as the biggest and most eagerly-awaited Major in golfing history. Disclaimer: The BBC will put up as many of your comments as possible but we cannot guarantee that all e-mails will be published. The BBC reserves the right to edit comments that are published.At just 25, Tiger Woods is the youngest man to win the game's four Major titles and he holds records in all of them. Known for his total professionalism and determination, can he keep his cool for the ultimate golfing accolade of holding all four titles at the same time? Tell us what you think.
Tiger Woods moved to the top of the US Masters leaderboard as his nearest challengers lost their way towards the end of the third round. The world number one holds a one shot lead over the world number two, Phil Mickelson. They will play alongside each other on the final round. In June 2000, Woods won the US Open at Pebble Beach by a staggering 15 stokes. Five weeks later at St Andrews he caused a sensation by winning the Open and in August he added the USPGA Championship to the list. The stakes are high for this week's tournament at the Augusta National Golf club in Georgia. A win for Tiger will confirm his status as one of the greatest sportsmen to have ever lived. But will it give him the Grand Slam? Arnold Palmer who conceived the idea in 1960 believes not. He says to achieve the professional Grand Slam all four Majors need to be won in one season. Is it possible for Tiger Woods to win all four Majors in succession? If so, is it a Grand Slam or Tiger sham? Or will Wood's lapse in form at the beginning of this year's tour come back to haunt him? Email us your thoughts.
Of course he can win the Masters but I do think a Grand Slam has to be done by wiining all Majors in any one year. If anyone disagrees, and thinks they have a good case, please take it up with Ladbrokes as I have an outstanding bet with them that he will achieve a Grand Slam in 2001! I feel the man to watch besides Woods is Steve Stricker. He won the world championships with a very strong "Tigerless" field. My only concern is "does he have he nerves" to do well with Woods chasing him on the back nine or will he crack. You can't take it away from Tiger that he is a good player. But what about the others guys out there? Anyone would think that no other person was playing .
If I was a relative of a tour player I would be brassed off with all the comments on Tiger, you make them sound like second class people. I am NOT 'Tiger bashing' but IF he wins my opinion is that it is not a Grand Slam. A TRUE Grand Slam ...in ANY sport should be defined as winning all the major events in ONE season. eg Manchester United won the treble all in the same season, they did not win FA cup in one year then the league later, The same applies in tennis etc. I think that by not winning the 2000 Masters, Tiger's posssible 'Grand Slam' would be 'tainted' Each golf season has always been regarded as being the CALENDER YEAR - not a period of twelve months. The media are partly responsible for this conjecture in that they are all too focussed on this remarkable young man. To Ewan Armstrong: You complain about it being called the "British Open?" Then stop calling it the "US Masters." There's no such tournament as the "US Masters." It's properly called The Masters. I have followed Tiger's golfing career for the past 13 years and have observed a pattern that indicates that he will win the Masters by a minimum of four strokes. Tiger's tournament score will be 270. On day one I saw a player mark his ball on the green, then as he picked his ball up, he missed and rolled it on the green about 2 feet towards the toe of his putter. Is this not called 'testing the green', hence a 2 stroke penalty? It is too difficult to judge Tiger basing ourself on the first round. This guy is a marvel to watch and a five shot gap is nothing as long as there are holes left. He is going to set the course burning on the third round The problem is who will win if not Tiger. Els and Mickelson aren't playing that well at the moment so if Tiger doesn't complete the Slam I think Vijay will successfully defend his title. The Grand Slam is all four majors in one season, so Tiger still has three to go if he wins the Masters. Also, why does everybody talk about the 'British Open' which is a tournament which does not exist. Its proper name is 'The Open Championship' and not some daft Americanism!
There are also alot of other fantastic players such as Els and Mickleson that seem to have been forgotten about recently because of Tiger. His win is by no means a certainty Tiger is untouchable at the moment, and he will take Augusta quite easily. Whereas Tiger has clearly proved to be a worthy champion and credit to his sport, he has at times proved to be only human around Augusta in the last three years. If this was to be the case this year, I would fully expect Vijay Singh to take full advantage and retain the green jacket. He ran the world number one a close second at Sawgrass and has the temperament to match Tiger over the last nine holes at Augusta. Then again Tiger may shoot four consecutive course records and win by 20 shots ! It always seemed the impossible dream to hold all 4 majors at the same time. Maybe not the real grand slam of all 4 majors in the Calendar year, but none the less a magnificent achievement nobody may ever see happening again. What a stunning achievement it would be if Tiger Woods was to win on Sunday night. It would be fantastic.
The mental stress on Woods will be incredible, and if he overcomes all possible difficulties and top class opposition and wins the Green Jacket, he will be even closer to the great Jack Nicklaus in terms of stature. But Woods has to overtake the number of majors Nicklaus has won to prove himself as the greatest of all time. Nicklaus will still be the legend in my eyes and I'm sure a lot of other people's eyes, at least for another decade. It's not a question of whether he'll win or not but rather by how many shots will he pulverize the second placed man.
He will be in top form come the masters, he will be highly motivated and very focused. The rest of the field had better beware because I cant see anyone coming between Tiger and a clean sweep of majors and completing the grand slam of golf. I don't think Tiger's recent form is really that important. We can expect his usual imposing form and good luck to him - Grand Slam or no Grand Slam! My favourite to rival him is David Duval, always a performer at Augusta. Whilst Tiger has not been as dominant in recent tournaments it should still be remembered that he has won them. Surely winning when you are not on top form is what really marks out a true champion | |   Four-star Tiger?
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