THE second player to quality for the Grand Slam of Golf in Bermuda in October at the Mid Ocean Club will be known after next weekend when the US Open concludes at the tough Oakmont layout in Pennsylvania.And no one will be watching the events unfold more keenly than David Ezekiel, Mid Ocean vice-president who has been overseeing the preparations for the Grand Slam which will be staged on October 16 and 17.

The first player to qualify for the Grand Slam was Zach Johnson who captured his first Masters green jacket earlier this year in just his third start at the Augusta National Golf Club.

The Grand Slam of Golf pits the winners of the four majors — the Masters, US Open, British Open and the PGA Championship — against each other in a 36-hole season-ending tournament.

“I think many Bermudians are watching the majors more intently than ever before as they all want to know who will be the next golfer to qualify,” said Ezekiel this week.

“I guess everyone is hoping to see Tiger but we are not pinning the success of the tournament on Tiger. Obviously we would love to see him but it is a tough game and there are some excellent players out there. You have the likes of Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson, VJ Singh and then others like Adam Scott and Luke Donald.”

And while Johnson — hardly a household name — was a surprise winner at the Masters, Ezekiel said: “I think Johnson will be a lot bigger name by the time October comes around. He has since won another tournament and he has a great swing — a wonderful swing for wind which we are hoping for come October.”

Woods, known for his meticulous tournament preparation, said this week that he accepts his schedule will have to be flexible for the rest of this year because of the impending arrival of his first child. The world number one’s Swedish wife Elin is expected to give birth early next month and Woods is uncertain how much he will play before and after the due date.

“I’m pacing myself already just because of the fact that I have a baby coming up,” the 31-year-old American said during a PGA Championship teleconference on Monday.

“I don’t know how much I’m going to play after that (the birth) or how much I’m going to play before that. A lot depends on how Elin is feeling and the health of our child.”

Woods has already said he is prepared to miss the July 19-22 British Open at Carnoustie if the arrival of his first child clashes with the third major of the season.

Asked if he would be able to defend his PGA Championship title at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma from August 9 to 12, he replied: “I hope so.”

When the PGA of America announced in December last year that Bermuda had won the right to stage the 2007 Grand Slam of Golf, Ezekiel obviously knew that it would entail a fair amount of work in order to stage the event properly.

“But it is a lot more work than we thought it would be,” he said. “It is totally mind-blowing. Initially you may have thought how hard can it be with just four guys coming down to play golf? Well it is a huge amount of work!

“Actually we are working almost full time on the organisation. But we know that it will be a stunning event no matter who comes.

“I have got 28 committees working on various aspects of it. There are so many things to consider — housing and the hospitality are going to be huge.”

With the hospitality suites Ezekiel said he expects that they will have to cater breakfast and lunch to between 600 and 700 people a day.

“It is a big test for the Mid Ocean staff who are gearing up for it on a daily basis. We will also have to bring in extra people on the catering side. Eventually we will have about 250 volunteers including the marshals. You have to think about the security, the scoring and manning tents — everything. Luckily we have also had a lot of help from Government and from the PGA themselves who are helping to handle the transport and shuttles to the event.

“We have had a lot of help for things outside the course before it actually gets to us. Once it gets to us it is our baby but I am lucky in that I have a great team of people working with me on it.”

TNT will be televising the tournament and Ezekiel said they have already made a couple of scouting trips to the course.

“TNT have been down a couple of times and they are coming again at the end of this month to do the aerial shoot — they will be filming every hole from a helicopter so touch wood the weather is nice.”

He expects that they will be putting the towers up around the course the week before the tournament.

Of the large number of spectators expected to purchase tickets, Ezekiel said: “It is going to be a bit hard to police the spectators (for tickets) but golf fans are pretty good so my guess that most people will buy their tickets well in advance — we can’t spend all of our time trying to catch people who don’t have tickets. There is a tremendous honour system among golf fans and it has worked well for us in the past with the Merrill Lynch (Shoot-Out Championship).

“Also we have discount tickets for the kids at $10 and all of that revenue will go to the Bermuda Junior Golf Association. So hopefully that will encourage teenagers to buy tickets. It is a challenge though.

“Overall we are going to concentrate putting on a fun event.”

The first day — Monday October 17 — will be the Pro-Am and Champions Clinic. “That will be one of the best days for spectators,” said Ezekiel. “We will conduct (the Champions Clinic) on the 18th hole and people will be allowed to bring their cameras. I really think that Monday will be one of the highlights.”

TNT and Mid Ocean will also be putting in miles of TV cables and fixed roping. “We will also have hand held roping by the marshals,” he said.

This will be the 25th PGA Grand Slam of Golf.

TNT says that the 36-hole event will be broadcast to an audience of 89 million US homes, along with an international audience of more than 100 countries in a prime-time telecast.

The purse is $1.35 million, with the winner receiving $600,000; second place $300,000; third place $250,000; and fourth place $200,000.

After next week’s US Open at Oakmont, the British Open will be held at Carnoustie, Scotland from July 19-22 and the 89th PGA Championship will be staged at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma from August 9-12.

Should a player win more than one major this season, the foursome will be completed through the Major Champions Points List composed of past major champions who compete in the current year’s majors.

The Champions Clinic features the players demonstrating various golf skills and insight on how they execute their shots. The clinic will be televised by the GOLF Channel. The Pro-Am features amateur groups composed of officials, VIPs and guests of the PGA of America, TNT and Bermuda, who play alongside the major champions. Cameras and autographs are only allowed on Monday.

Established in 1979, the PGA Grand Slam of Golf has grown from an 18-hole, single-day charity event to a 36-hole annual showdown.

Past Champions include Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk, Ernie Els, Tom Lehman, Ben Crenshaw, Greg Norman, Nick Price and Ian Woosnam.