Tiger Woods’s march to the calendar year grand slam begins at Augusta National this week. He’s already managed one slam, of course, but because his previous impregnable quadrilateral, improbable quartet, implausible foursome — whatever you want to call it — involved some overlap from 2000 into 2001, it didn’t count for many people who thought it should go by a different name: the “Tiger Slam.” Not discounting the 142 consecutive cuts made from February 1998 to May 2006, nine Player of the Year awards, 64 tour wins, and 13 major championship victories at age 32, his four straight majors from the 2000 U.S. Open to the 2001 Masters surely rank as his finest achievement to date. Because no player has ever held the modern day, calendar year, professional grand slam (Bobby Jones’s 1930 version included two amateur championships), you can bet the ever-motivated, ceaselessly competitive Woods will be gunning to become the first.

He is, of course, the only player alive who could realistically entertain the idea. So far he has won four out of five events this year, and he leads the PGA Tour’s greens in regulation stat by a significant margin — finding 2 1/2% more greens than he did last year — over K.J. Choi. Clearly, the swing that took him and Hank Haney two, maybe three, years to construct has been under complete control of late. His swing is certainly operating more efficiently than it did at Augusta last year when a number of overly aggressive swipes with the driver, seemingly without rhythm, cost the world No. 1 dearly on several holes.

The beneficiary of Woods’s uncharacteristically lackluster showing on the back nine last year was the kid from Iowa, Zach Johnson, who by sticking tenaciously to a carefully conceived game plan overcame not only what pressure Woods exerted but also frigid temperatures, a hard, fast-running golf course, and a wholly disadvantageous lack of length. After two major extensions to the course in the previous six years, Augusta appeared far too long for the likes of Johnson, who averages 265 yards a drive. Not surprisingly, sweeping statements were made before the tournament about half the field being incapable of winning and that only a handful of long hitters could possibly contend. The theory seemed reasonable enough, but was proved entirely wrong. Indeed, since the club first extended the course in 2001, two of the tournament’s winners (Mike Weir in 2003 and Johnson) were outside the Tour’s top 65 in driving distance leading into Masters week — 100 places outside in Johnson’s case.

Bombers are still more likely to succeed at Augusta, but, if nothing else, last year showed the short, accurate driver/sound putter combination works well too, especially with a 1-inch-long second cut of grass (rough at any other course) and the additional trees the club has planted in recent years. Some feel the course is actually a good deal easier with that second-cut, as it stops slightly offline drives from rolling into the woods or creeks that border the second and 13th holes.

The numbers suggest otherwise, however. The average four-round winning total since the “rough” was introduced 10 years ago is a little higher than 279. In the 1990s, when the course effectively had no rough, it was just more than 276. Despite much criticism over the changes, Hootie Johnson, the club chairman who made the decision to add the length, was largely vindicated. Short hitters could still win the Masters and the new layout avoided an embarrassing mauling by strong, athletic players using high-tech equipment — precisely the result the former chairman envisaged.

Some criticism of Johnson’s changes is justified though. With fairways defined by taller grass, Augusta National takes on a similar appearance to most of the world’s other courses (okay, nowhere really looks as gorgeous as Augusta, rough or no rough) when the wide, undefined fairways of yesteryear made it unique among the world’s great courses. And with clear mowing lines running down the length of each hole, the need for good strategy — considering the design of the hole and your own level of ability before deciding on the appropriate line to take — has more or less disappeared. Perhaps the ideal combination, one that satisfies both traditionalists who say the course should remain untouched, and Hootie Johnson’s supporters who don’t wish to see it become a victim of multilayer ball technology or drivers with replaceable weights, would be to keep the length but eschew the second cut. These are all largely redundant musings because no matter how they set the course up, Woods will remain the favorite and the Masters will always be the most highly anticipated tournament on this side of the Atlantic. This year, 50 years on from the first of Arnold Palmer’s four victories, Woods looks as good a bet to win as he ever has. Then again, they said that about his attempt at a fourth straight win at Doral in Miami three weeks ago when he finished fifth, two behind Geoff Ogilvy.

Even though his dominance is considerable, most would be inclined to take the field over a Woods victory. This is golf, remember, not a six-horse sprint on a straight track in which the weather, tee times, playing partners, and lucky bounces have little or no effect. There are just too many good players in the field for it to be a foregone conclusion. Phil Mickelson is speaking confidently and swinging well. Ernie Els returned to the winners’ circle in Palm Beach Gardens last month, although it must be said he is something of an unknown quantity this week having done next to nothing since that win. How about a first major for J.B. Holmes who brings his 307-yard average drive to Augusta for the first time? What about a first for Justin Rose, Andres Romero, or Steve Stricker? A second for Jim Furyk, Mark Calcavecchia, or Padraig Harrington certainly isn’t outside the realm of possibility. Nor is a third for Retief Goosen whose game is on the mend after 18 or so unproductive months. Even double-Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal, whose recent battle with rheumatism makes him an unlikely winner, obviously loves the place; his short game gives him a shot a round over most of the field. Vijay Singh, who believes the changes he has been making to his swing coupled with an even more rigorous workout schedule are beginning to bear fruit, could very well claim his fourth.

But the most probable outcome is a 14th for Woods. He hasn’t won here since 2005, which, by his standards, is far too long to be going without a new green jacket.

tonydear71@comcast.net