Tiger Woods maintained a somewhat muted attitude yesterday to a winning streak of six American tournaments stretching back to last August. And colleagues on the USPGA Tour believe it is because he has a far bigger target in mind - the Modern Grand Slam.

"He's thinking about it, for sure," said Paul Azinger, who gained a comeback victory in the Sony Open in Hawaii last month. "And I wouldn't bet against him."

In January, after he captured the Mercedes Championship at Kapalua, Woods said he considered his winning streak to be one, rather than five, because he was starting a new year. Now he is not quite so sure. "It's definitely more intriguing, there's no doubt about that," he said.

So, media attention will become all the more intense when he attempts to retain the Buick Invitational, which starts tomorrow at Torrey Pines. But it is typical of the player that he should consider his much-hyped pursuit of Byron Nelson's record 11 wins in-a-row to be somewhat contrived.

He took a similar view in Kuala Lumpur last November when his winning sequence was maintained by taking the individual title in the World Cup. "I wonder if it can be treated seriously, given that Marko (Mark O'Meara) and me were helping each other with putts," he said, after spearheading the victorious US team effort.

Of course, the World Cup win is not included in the current sequence, as it is not a USPGA Tour event. Nor is the PGA Grand Slam of Golf, which he won in Hawaii later that week. And it should be noted that he failed to win the Johnnie Walker Classic in Taiwan on November 14th, when Michael Campbell captured the first event of the 2000 European Tour season.

That was one of the rare occasions when a late challenge from the world number one never materialised, as he carded two sevens on the way to a closing 71 and a share of sixth place. All of which explains yesterday's comment, "I'm more proud of the fact that I won eight out of nine," when the issue of continuing the streak was raised.

Still, a win at Torrey Pines would still be his seventh-in-arow on the US Tour. But to match the 1945 achievement of Nelson, he would have to keep it going in the Nissan Open (Feb 17th to 20th), WGC Andersen Consulting Matchplay (Feb 24th to 27th), Bay Hill Invitational (March 16th to 19th) and Players' Championship (March 23rd to 26th). It will be seen that he has opted out of the Tucson Open, Doral Open and the Honda Classic, prior to Bay Hill, giving himself a three-week break.

Meanwhile, according to Aginger, the so-called Modern Grand Slam is looming large in his thoughts. It is less than coincidence that it was Ben Hogan, the player who came closest to securing it, who set the winning sequence which Woods equalled at Pebble Beach last Monday.

In 1953, Hogan won the US Masters, the US Open and the British Open. Yet there was never the suggestion of a near-miss, given that he opted out of the USPGA Championship. As it happened, he had not played in it since his victory in 1948, largely because the 36-hole matches placed too much strain on his fragile legs. Either way, it happened to clash with the British Open in 1953.

Since then, the only players who have had realistic chances of winning all four major championships in the same season are Jack Nicklaus and Nick Faldo. In 1966, Nicklaus won the Masters; was third in the US Open; won the British Open and was tied 22nd in the USPGA. And in 1972, he won the Masters and the US Open; was runner-up to Lee Trevino in the British Open and was tied 13th in the USPGA. Then, in 1975, he won the Masters; was tied seventh in the US Open; was tied third in the British Open and won the USPGA.

Faldo came closest to it in 1990. After retaining the Masters, he missed a 12-foot putt on the 18th to get into a play-off for the US Open at Medinah, where he was tied third behind Hale Irwin. He then won the British Open at St Andrews and was tied 19th in the USPGA.

The closest Tom Watson came to it was in 1977 when he won the Masters, was tied seventh in the US Open, won the British Open and was tied sixth in the USPGA.

According to Nicklaus: "Tiger knows what he has to do and he consistently does it. Usually pressure is a deterrent to a great performance but he consistently gets it done under pressure."

He also exhibits the hallmark of greatness in the manner in which he can make things happen. Like the outrageous birdie putt of more than 40 feet which he holed for a play-off win over Ernie Els in the Mercedes last month, and the holed wedge shot for an eagle two on Pebble's 15th on Monday.

More than anything, however, he proved with a final round of 64 that he can never be counted out until he's off the course.

It seems fanciful to imagine that Woods will have equalled Nelson's record 11-in-a-row of 1945 by the time he gets to Augusta for this year's US Masters on April 6th to 9th. Even at his tender years, he is all too aware that strange things can happen in run-of-the-mill tournaments.

But in the highly pressurised atmosphere of a major championship, especially over the closing nine holes, there is far less danger of a "springer" creating problems for him. That is why winning the four major championships in the same year is now an eminently attainable target for a player of his amazing talents.

And he knows it.