Woods, Mickelson, Singh, Goosen, Els, perhaps even Clarke, Harrington or Montgomerie.

Whatever the line-up, you can be assured that when Bermuda plays host to the Grand Slam a year from now, some of the biggest names in golf will be vying for the half million dollar first prize.

By its very nature the Slam is guaranteed a top shelf field . . . only those who win one of the year?s four majors are entitled to an automatic spot and if, as Tiger has done this year, a player triumphs in more than one major, a replacement from the world rankings? top ten can be expected to fill the void.

The PGA Tour?s decision to move this massive event from the lush fairways of Hawaii to the somewhat quaint but highly-respected Mid Ocean Club would appear to represent a huge coup for Bermuda, and Tourism Minister Ewart Brown in particular.

Brown?s been telling us from some time he was determined to bring a huge sports event to the Island during his tenure and if he pulls this one off ? let?s not forget the contract has yet to be signed ? then nobody can argue that he hasn?t delivered.

Should Woods be in the field, and what sensible person would bet on him not winning a major next year, then it?s difficult to imagine how Mid Ocean would cope with the crowds.

They?d be absolutely enormous, with perhaps 10,000 or more determined to catch a glimpse of arguably the best player ever to grace the game.

But while security might provide one of the 36-hole tournament?s biggest headaches, surely the most pressing problem facing organisers would be figuring out a way to Tiger-proof what by modern standards is a ridiculously short golf course.

At just over 6,500 yards, it doesn?t measure up anywhere close to those courses employed for the four majors.

Offering to Tiger and co. Mid Ocean as it stands now would be inviting golf carnage.

The Tucker?s Town lay-out might have played host to some top line players during the years of the Merrill Lynch Shoot-Out and Gillette Tour Challenge Championship, when the likes of John Daly drove his ball over the par-four eighth and came mighty close to reaching the green on the par-four 18th. LPGA star Laura Davies wasn?t too far behind either.

But since those days, advances in equipment technology have seen players much less brutal than Big John hitting it a darn sight further.

Former Masters winner Ben Crenshaw pointed out in the last Tour Challenge, Mid Ocean didn?t have to rely on its modest yardage to present top professionals with a challenge. Architect Charles Blair Macdonald?s beautifully contoured greens , he argued, were themselves sufficient to protect the course?s reputation as one of the world?s classics.

But even with those same greens reading well into double digits on the stimpmeter, the fairways narrowed and the rough allowed to grow, one wonders whether Mid Ocean could prevent today?s big names from bludgeoning the course into submission.

Yet at the end of the day that might not really matter. If the Grand Slam were to turn into a birdie fest, few of the 90 odd million TV viewers who traditionally switch onto the event would be overly concerned.

As much as the golf, one hopes their focus would be on the spectacular surroundings, every bit as inviting as anything the courses of Hawaii can offer.

And that, at the end of the day, is the whole point of the exercise - not to give Bermudians a chance to watch the world?s leading players, but to show the rest of the golf world just what they?re missing if they don?t take up the opportunity to visit.

One would hope that by next October the renovations at Port Royal would be complete. Add the potential delights of that course to Mid Ocean, Tucker?s Point and Belmont Hills, and you?ve finally got a package that?s worthy of entertaining the most seasoned of golf traveller.

Again as Brown explained, the cost of bringing in the Slam, $1.5 million, is a relatively small price to pay for the enormous exposure and the benefits that could follow.

It?s an investment that hopefully will not only be embraced by golf lovers but the whole community.

? ADRIAN ROBSON