Race To Dubai / Romilly Evans / 23 November 2010 /

Romilly Evans believes that struggling Sergio Garcia should look at the new kid in town to remember what he has lost in his game...

The talk this week is, of course, all about Martin Kaymer and Graeme McDowell, as the pair face off to decide The Race To Dubai honours for 2010 at the season-ending Dubai World Championship. Both men have enjoyed career years and certainly deserve their place in the spotlight. However, for me at least, a more intriguing head-to-head lies in store amid The Race To Dubai subtext. And it's one which comprises two of the most explosive talents ever seen on a golf course - one who's come out firing this year, and the other who's been keeping his powder dry for too long.

The respective fortunes and prospects of Matteo Manassero and Sergio Garcia could hardly appear more contrasting at present. After all, Manassero is the precocious 17-year-old, who has taken the golfing world by storm ever since Seve Ballesteros invited him to a chipping contest at the Italian Open. Ballesteros chipped his ball stone dead. Manassero holed his. Impressive. Especially considering he was just four years of age at the time.

Manassero became the youngest winner of the Amateur Championship in 2009, and then backed that up with the Silver Medal for low amateur at The Open. The following year at The Masters, he became the youngest player to make the cut.

Ah, but what about this season's tricky transition to the professional ranks? Well, there was the one missed cut. But Justin Rose had 21 of those consecutively. So let's forgive him that and focus instead on two top-threes, nearly a million euros in the bank and a debut win at the Castello Masters in October where he became (you've guessed it) the youngest winner on tour. Not too shabby.

Many of the bars which Manassero has been resetting were put there by Sergio Garcia. And none was more pertinent than his victory in Castellon, a tournament which Garcia hosts and one where the local hero missed the cut for the first time. It must have reminded Garcia of his own meteoric rise to prominence when he won twice and finished third on the 1999 Order of Merit as a 19-year-old. That year, Garcia also chased home Tiger Woods in the USPGA, pulling off a miraculous, eyes-wide-shut recovery from the roots of a tree to announce his flamboyance on the world stage. They called him simply "El Nino", the kid.

Current comparisons with the new kid in town may prove painful for Garcia - especially if he considers how far he's fallen (World No.77) since he was the thrusting young Turk on tour. And Betfair punters evidently concur, with the Italian available at [46.] this week, the Spaniard at [75.0]. But if Garcia can channel those memories positively, they could help reignite the fires that once fuelled him to World No.2 and The Players' Championship.

Much of the adjustment for Garcia must be attitudinal. His swing is technically sound and he remains possibly the purest striker of a golf ball around. Only his short putting is proving a consistent Achilles heel. And short putting is one facet of the game that can change with attitude, particularly the carefree one Sergio used to embody.

Unfortunately, much of that has been eroded by some untimely reversals both professional and personal. He stills awaits his breakthrough at the majors, twice going down agonisingly to Padraig Harrington - a person whom Garcia neither particularly likes nor rates as a player. That must've been tough, as was his subsequent break-up with his girlfriend. Without the results to sustain him, the Spaniard understandably fell out of love with golf. Getting into contention had become an opportunity not to succeed, but to fail.

After some time off with friends and family, his recent stint as vice-captain on the successful Ryder Cup team appears to have reminded him of what he's been missing and how highly his peers regard him. The green shoots of his recovery are already sprouting (10th at Valderrama, a tournament-low 65 in Australia) and Sergio is one to watch not just this week, but above all next year.

He's still only 30 for heaven's sake. Keep in mind that Ben Hogan and Phil Mickelson were about 34 when they won their first majors. Hogan went on to win nine, Mickelson (another former wunderkind) presently owns four. Manassero's glory years will come, but remember there's another exuberant talent with jet-black hair and Latin blood who could still book his place in the pantheon of all-time greats.

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