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Garcia is the nearly-man of world golf but the question is will he ever get there?

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Betfair blogger Craig Dutton muses on decline and fall in the game...

Nostradamus, if he were alive, would undoubtedly have jacked in the writing of quatrains and prophecies and committed the majority of his working life to the production of blogs for a leading betting exchange website. Thankfully, I have filled the breach, and my musings/semi-coherent ramblings have shown themselves to be unusually accurate.

I talked about Els' decline from the top echelon of the game, only an opinion obviously, and that in-running golf yet again proves that no money is free money. As though utopia had itself arrived, the two met hand-in-hand with Ernie doing nothing else but throwing away the Alfred Dunhill Championship. He had more than a hand on the trophy - he'd already accepted, made a speech, and was sampling the bland chicken carbonara on the plane home. His effort at the last grabbed the headlines - if golf really ever draws headlines, unfortunately - but be under no illusion, the entire round cost Els. From the start of the back nine he was struggling, and the disaster on 18 was just the icing on the poison-riddled cake.

Els is not above the choking that plagues all players from time to time, but I think it's a sign that a once sterling career is stagnant, if not in decline. Not a terminal decline that cannot be arrested - I just think his best days are now in his past. Els is certainly not overrated. Indeed, if you had two golfers playing for your right to live, I'd choose Woods and Els (that is not to say that anyone would endanger a life over golf, but it's the only analogy that came to mind!). Before anyone notices similarities between Els' stagnancy and possible downward spiral as well as my own - I've already been there.

One accusation that could not be levelled at Ernie Els is that he is overrated. A multiple major winner, if anything Els has suffered disappointments in majors that have stopped him being more successful. Had Woods not been created by a twisted genius, a comment furnished with apologies to Kultida Woods, Els would have undoubtedly been top of the tree. The 'Big Easy' has already established a legacy as a truly great golfer, and I have always found him a joy to watch. With a swing like that, you have to.

A player I do feel overrated is Sergio Garcia. Commentators have engaged hyperbole mode when discussing the Spanish professional. He is not the young, upstart anymore - he has trawled the European and PGA Tours for nine years. He is a great showman, and a pleasure to watch, but his putting falls way short when compared to the rest of his game. He strikes the ball magnificently - but until his putting is on a par with the rest of his game, he will surely fall short in the Majors.

Whilst few tout Garcia as an all-time great at this stage, endless commentaries discuss his immense potential and promise as a future star. Perhaps looking for a solution, the alteration in his swing has not benefited Garcia. It wasn't perfect - neither was Nicklaus' - but Jack Nicklaus had a putting ability surpassed by few, if any, a vital key in winning a man any major event, let alone 18. Garcia is known to do little practice - I wouldn't disagree with that. But those little office-putting toys make great stocking fillers. Learn to putt, and he could be a great.