Could this be the year?

"It's hard for me to sit here and tell you that [the Grand Slam] can't be done, because I've done it before," said Woods in a press conference on Tuesday. "It's just a matter of winning the right four at the right time. So hopefully it will start this week for me."

And so it was said. And so I must ask…

Could this be the year?

Should Bobby Jones' be gripping the champagne tighter than ever in his grave?

Let's face it. It's be 79 years since the last Grand Slam. The "Tiger Slam" doesn't count in my book and it never will, no matter how dominant Woods was during his stretch of four consecutive major championships.

Yet Tiger is healthy again. He is confident. His putter was flawless at Bay Hill. He is probably pissed off that he hasn't won the Masters since 2005. He is probably pissed off that he hasn't won the Masters every year since 1997.

When he wins, Nike makes commercials about his ball rolling gorgeously through its final revolution and remarkably falling into the cup. When he loses, he says, it's usually because he either drives it well or putts it well and doesn't do both in the same week.

So I ask again. Could this be the year?

Because I will never have the expertise or access of Sports Illustrated's Damon Hack, I'll let you be the judge. Charles Howell III, Tiger's neighbor, says he's driving it better than ever. Rich Beem says Tiger would have to play great off the tee and avoid the nasty rough at Hazeltine during this year's PGA Championship.

I would say that if Tiger were to win the Masters, the toughest challenge at Bethpage Black and the U.S. Open would simply be the crowds. It might be the first event in golf history where the entire gallery followed one group the whole weekend.

Common sense says you can't win the Slam if you don't win the Masters. So first things first.

I was fortunate to attend both the 2001 U.S. Open at Bethpage and the 2005 Masters, the last times that Tiger won at both courses on this year's major championship schedule. I would say they were the two best tournaments I've ever seen in person — probably even sporting events in general. Bethpage, without question, was the best, despite insanely heavy rains in the early rounds that made walking the gallery a complete and total mess.

Tiger thinks the Grand Slam is possible? But plausible? Like the Mythbusters say, it certainly seems plausible this year.

But first things first. There's a reason it hasn't happened in almost eight decades.

Photo from Fred Vulch/SI