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Insanely talented but wildly unpredictable, Garcia is one to swerve in the betting

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Bill Elliott thinks it's time Sergio underlined his ability with some big wins...but until he does there's no money going on the Spaniard

He is a bit of a rascal but Sergio Garcia's twin abiding positives are (a) most of us like a rascal and (b) he is never boring. And the never boring stuff applies as much to his on-course golf as it does to his off-course personality.

Now 28, he should no longer be the enfant terrible of the European scene. But a hectic, galloping lifestyle, a love of fast cars and exotic girlfriends mean he, more than most, is living the dream. Since turning professional in 1999 he has charmed, excited, disappointed and frustrated in roughly equal measure.

He was a plus 5 amateur when he joined the pro scene and he brought with him on to the world stage an occasionally reckless approach to a game that often is too studied and calm to encourage onlookers to lose their own cool. When he jousted with Tiger Woods at the '99 USPGA Championship it seemed that those of us who pay serious attention to the old mistress were about to enjoy one of the truly great rivalries.

Sadly, it never has quite happened that way. Since then, of course, Woods has accelerated towards a distant horizon while Garcia has frittered and fretted his way into the higher plateau of the world rankings, made a ton of money but never quite scaled the heights his prodigious talent initially promised.

While Woods now has 13 majors, Garcia has zero. This, analysed how you like, is an insult to his ability. He came close at The Open last year but his concession to Padraig Harrington at Carnoustie was not only mostly predictable, it hurt the Spaniard terribly. Immediately afterwards he came into the sprawling Media Centre and told several hundred of the world's press that he had lost because of the malevolent action of mysterious outside forces.

He was unfairly criticised for this bleating but this criticism was in itself unfair. Garcia, after all, was a young and emotional bloke trying to over-analyse the bleeding obvious. It never has been outside forces that have usurped his towering ambition, it has been a putting stroke that comes over all dodgy when the Really Big Moments arrive. These trembling seconds of doubt arrive during the final round of significant events and for Sergio they encourage what Johnny Miller once memorably described to me as golf's "Hershey squits".

Garcia, for all his cockiness, seems to suffer them more than one would hope. It is not that he is a terrible putter, it's just that he is not a consistently good one and it is this sorry but inescapable fact that is underlined by the stats that suggest he is without doubt the worst world class golfer when it comes to the Sunday of championships.

Whatever, all optimism is yet to be shredded where this golfer is concerned. He is kick-starting his season out in the Middle East this week and, as ever, he is full of fist-pump anticipation for the trials to come. He says he has learned much from his failure to capture the Open title although he declines to say exactly what this is and he says also that he is more prepared than ever to tilt at all the right windmills again in 2008.

What he must know surely is that it is now time to stop tilting and to start knocking these flaming things over. Can he finally do it? Well despite his flaws I wouldn't bet against him pulling of something really worthwhile but then I wouldn't rush to bet on him either. This may be the biggest fence even I have ever sat on but, for now anyway, I suspect it's the smart place to be when contemplating Sergio Garcia. We'll see.