WHILE Bermuda and the Mid Ocean Club are still keeping their fingers crossed in the hope of hosting the 2007 Grand Slam of Golf, there is no doubt where the number one player in the world wants the exhibition tournament to be played, writes Sports Editor Kyle Hunter<$>.Tiger Woods (pictured)<$>, who on Wednesday evening won the 36-hole event for the seventh time, wants the event to stay at its current site on the Hawaiian island of Kauai at the Poipu Bay Golf Club.

Woods beat out Jim Furyk by two strokes for his 36-hole victory and later said: "This has been basically like one of the great vacations for us players to come here. The resort's fantastic. The people that come out and watch, support, there's just genuine people. I've always loved coming here. It's just a shame that if it doesn't happen again, we don't come back."

The Poipu Bay Golf Course, designed by noted architect Robert Trent Jones Jr., has earned high marks from respected golf publications such as Golf Digest <$>and Golf Magazine.

Woods shot a six-under-par 66 to finish the event at eight-under (134).

Bermuda and the Mid Ocean Club are trying to get the event here next year but there is stiff opposition from current hosts Kauai and Las Vegas.

As of press time last night the US PGA had not made a decision on where the 2007 event was to be held.

Yesterday David Ezekiel, vice president and men's captain at the Mid Ocean Club, said he was still waiting to hear from the US PGA whether Mid Ocean would host the event which features all four Grand Slam winners.

Premier Ewart Brown, in one of his last acts as Tourism Minister, was the first to make the surprise announcement that the island was on the verge of securing the rights to host the Grand Slam.

And at the time Dr. Brown's announcement also seemingly caught Mid Ocean Club executives by surprise.

Mr. Ezekiel told members in a letter at the time: "I am writing to inform you that Government intend to announce today that the PGA Grand Slam of Golf will come to Bermuda in 2007 and that they and the PGA 'are in final stages of negotiation with Mid Ocean'.

"That is exactly the situation — we have an agreed contract wording and were waiting for final signatures before we came to you with the news, but the proposed Government release has somewhat changed our timetable for us! I must caution that until all the contracts are executed this is still not 100 percent."

Poipu Bay Golf Club's Craig Sasada earlier this month said Premier Brown's insistence that the Mid Ocean Club was almost certain to host the 2007 event was not accurate.

"We're still in negotiations," he told the Honolulu Star Bulletin. "Our contract runs from year to year, and there's always been different entities trying to get it. Both Bermuda and Las Vegas were in the running last year (for the 2006 contract), too."

Golf star Woods wants tournament to stay in Hawaii