When recalling a practice round he played with Nick Faldo prior to the 1996 US Masters, Tiger Woods claimed: "He didn't say a word to me for the entire 18 holes." Little more than a year later, the normally taciturn Englishman was positively effusive in his assessment of the youngster's sensational impact on the tournament scene.

"Right now, Tiger has the game throttled," said the former world number one. It was late May and Faldo was at Wentworth for the Volvo PGA Championship. By that stage, Woods had gained a record victory in the Masters and seemed set to sweep the boards in the remaining Majors of the season.

"At the moment, Tiger's playing a different course to the rest of us," he went on. "He's unbeatable. Nothing like it has happened since Nicklaus came on the scene."

In Faldo's view, the only hope for prospective rivals was to have a lake placed at 300 yards range on every hole, to catch Woods's drives. "We're looking at a situation in which they will need to change the great courses (like Augusta National), because of what he's doing," he said.

"The length factor is the thing. If Tiger continues to hit the two key clubs, the driver and the putter, the way he's doing at the moment, there's no way the average course can test him. With an eight iron in your hand, there's no such thing as a tight pin placement, whereas things are a lot different with a four iron."

A month previously, Woods had made history by becoming the first black golfer to conquer Augusta. And he did it in some style. His 18under-par aggregate of 270 smashed the record that had stood to the great Jack Nicklaus since 1965 and, in the process, the youngster finished a crushing 12 strokes ahead of second-placed Tom Kite.

On the following day, an editorial in USA Today proclaimed it as "a moment of enchanting transition, when a new generation arrives with new ideas and standards." It went on: "Such moments may be traumatic, of course. But in golf as in all sport - as in all of life - the changeover is thrilling to witness. After all, when you make history, you make the future, too."

For his part, Woods behaved impeccably in his moment of triumph. "It's not what I envisioned," he said. "You envision duelling it out with, say Faldo or Nicklaus or Watson - someone who's awfully tough to beat down the stretch. You dream of doing that or getting into a play-off. But never in the fashion that I did it."

Of course the talk was all about the professional Grand Slam. The closest anyone had some to this elusive goal was in 1953, when Ben Hogan won the Masters, the US Open and the British Open. His damaged legs precluded him from competing in the USPGA Championship which would have been out of the question anyway, because of a fixture clash.

"It's possible," said Jerry Pate, the 1975 US Open champion. "No question. The toughest event for him would probably be the British Open, though this year's venue, Troon, should be right up his alley. So are the other two - Congressional (US Open) and Winged Foot (USPGA). Right up his alley. Yes, I think he could possibly pull it off."

Faldo agreed. "I thought it was possible for me in 1990," he said. "The odds against me doing it were something like 100 to 1 at that time. I'm sure they would be half that, in Tiger's case."

That was when Faldo, at the peak of his powers, retained the Masters title and swept to a crushing victory in the British Open at St Andrews. And in between, a lipped-out putt of 15 feet on Medinah's 72nd green, deprived him of joining Hale Irwin and Mike Donald in a play-off for the US Open. Later, he was tied 19th in the USPGA at Shoal Creek.

"So, the answer is yes - he should handle Congressional and Winged Foot," the Englishman went on. "The only doubt is the danger of what might happen to him in a gale at Troon. Then there's the chance that his putting could desert him. But it's definitely possible."

While playing with Woods in the final round of the US Open at Congressional a month later, Faldo was in a position to see first-hand, the consequences of a fragile putting stroke. Though he had temporarily set Washington alight with a sparkling second round of 67, Woods eventually shot a six-overpar aggregate of 286 for a share of 19th place behind the winner, Ernie Els.

Not for the first time, Faldo was right. The youngster eventually killed his slim chances of the title by three-putting three times in a third round of 73. And when it was all over, he said dejectedly: "That course wore me out. Oh man, I putted horrible this week. My speed was off and when your speed is off on greens this fast, you're in deep trouble."

The bubble had burst. Those of us who had already booked trips to Winged Foot - just in case . . . - were left slightly embarrassed by all the Grand Slam hype. And the closing words of Faldo from that Wentworth interview came flashing into our minds.

"Up to now, Hogan is the only one who has won three majors in a row," he had cautioned. "Which makes me think that golf has stood the test of time."

July - and Royal Troon beckoned. "Is it because of the constant need to improvise that you love links golf?" It hardly seemed an appropriate time to pose such a question to Woods, given that he had run up an ugly, quadruple-bogey eight at Troon's quirky 10th hole, on the way to a second round of 74.

Though he had carded a triplebogey seven at the 11th in his opening round on the Thursday, this was different. Good God, the Phenom had suffered the indignity of a freshair! "Would you like to talk about your position after two rounds in relation to the leaderboard?," he was asked. "I will just answer questions," came the terse reply.

But he relented somewhat by admitting: "Overall, I think this golf course is definitely a little more severe than the last two I've played (Royal Lytham and St Andrews)." Then Woods added defiantly: "I was more than 13 strokes back at Pebble Beach this year and almost won."

Natural golfing instincts then emerged as he went on: "I love being able to play creatively, because the short game is brought back into play. I mean you don't have to hit the 60-degree lob-wedge every time you miss a target. Here, we're hitting all types of clubs - anything from a two iron to a putter. That's neat."

By way of emphasis, the Tiger suddenly sprang to life with a stunning third round of 64. Now he was within eight strokes of the leader, Jesper Parnevik. "I can close that gap," he claimed. And we believed him.

After a seven at the 11th and an eight at the 10th, surely there was nothing more that Troon could throw at him? But there was. During a thoroughly dispiriting final round of 74, Woods ran up a triple-bogey six at the famous Postage Stamp which, at 128 yards, is the shortest hole in championship golf. And all the while, another young American, Justin Leonard, was sweeping clear of the field, 23 places ahead of the "Phenom", at the top of the leaderboard.

ON to Winged Foot in August and the last Major of the season. The glorious exploits of Augusta seemed a long time ago, yet for those who doubted his prodigious talent, there was the reminder of a spectacular victory in the Byron Nelson Classic in which his highest round was 68. And another tour win in the Western Open at Cog Hill.

But what of the Grand Slam? Hadn't Woods claimed that all he needed to clinch it was to have his "A-game" for tour tournaments? When the point was put to him at Winged Foot, his decidedly subdued reply was: "Realistically, it's almost next to impossible to win all four."

And we remembered he was but a slip of a lad of 21, with much to learn about a highly complex and notoriously demanding game. And that he had been mercilessly exploited by an insatiable media and commercial interests.

Meanwhile, the Ryder Cup was looming. "It's talked about more than Tiger," said Faldo in mock protest. "Can it be more important than Tiger?" And the expansive talk that had focused on the Grand Slam earlier in the season was now about the way in which Woods would dominate the biennial showpiece.

But the European skipper, Seve Ballesteros, wasn't buying. "Is that what people are saying?," he remarked. "Well, I don't believe Tiger Woods can win the Ryder Cup. It is a team effort and that's what I will be instilling into my players."

And once again, something that Faldo had said, began to take on fresh relevance. "On some of the great positional courses, Tiger's length won't be much help to him," he had warned. "And Valderrama is such a course."

Looking back on events of last month, it was both naive and unfair of the Americans to place such a burden on Woods, who was experiencing that level of competition for the first time. And his prospects of a distinguished contribution were not helped by poor form, reflected in a missed cut in his previous tournament outing, the Canadian Open.

As it happened, the last, high-profile international appearance of the season by this richly-gifted young player, culminated in a decidedly modest contribution of one and a half points to the American cause. It prompted leading coach David Leadbetter to suggest: "Valderrama requires a lot more shot-making skills than Tiger has right now. It's not a course you can overpower."

Some decades before Tiger's breakthrough at Augusta, the talented black golfer, Charlie Sifford, had been controversially overlooked for a Masters invitation. Last April, the Augusta Chronicle carried a photograph of Earl Woods, the champion's father, being congratulated by Ron Townsend, the first black member of Augusta National.

Whatever about the Grand Slam, a very special young man had swept us into remarkable times.