So, what do you make of Sergio Garcia when it comes to the British Open? He's only 25, since last January, but this will be his ninth appearance - and an eighth successive one - in this oldest major of them all and the road so far has had more ups and downs than a EuroDisney roller-coaster.

In all he has missed the cut on three occasions, which were pills that were hard to swallow for the precocious Spaniard; on the other hand, the significantly more impressive statistic is that Garcia has three top 10s, all of which have come in his last four Opens.

Let's just forget all about last year's missed cut at Troon (which ended that streak of top 10s), and also let's forget about the horrific 89 that he suffered in his first appearance in the championship as a professional in 1999 at Carnoustie.

Garcia, you see, can play links golf. Okay, he may not be as familiar as others with the nuances and intricacies of the Old Course - his only previous appearance in the British Open came in 2000, when he finished tied-36th - but he did win the British Boys' and the British Amateur titles on seaside courses before making the inevitable move to the professional ranks.

Since then, however, there is the sense that he hasn't achieved as much as was expected. Fair? Or unfair? When it was put to Garcia yesterday, he positively bristled. "Am I underachieving? I wouldn't say so. I think that somebody told me that, apart from Tiger, I'm the guy with the most wins (on the US Tour) under the age of 25. So I guess that's not a bad group to be in.

"I definitely feel like I've played well enough to win a major. I've definitely had my chances, but it doesn't come down to you all the time.

"You're going to have your chances but you're going to need a couple of breaks here and there to make a couple of key putts when you're coming down the stretch. I'm not worried about it. I've a lot of good golf left."

Certainly, links golf has always had an attraction for him. "I've always enjoyed playing links courses. You have to figure out what you want to do at every single moment and really commit to it . . . even if it is a shot you're not used to hitting often, you can still see a picture of it in your head. I think if you do that most of the time, you're going to pull it off. So I'm looking forward to that (here)."

Garcia, ranked sixth in the world, has played in every major since he missed the cut at the 1999 British Open. In all, he has played in 27 majors (three as an amateur) with a best performance coming in the 1999 US PGA when he was held off by Tiger Woods.

Having missed the cut at the Masters, Garcia rebounded in the US Open at Pinehurst last month to finish third behind Michael Campbell. Has his time come? "If it happens, it happens," he replied.

"To make it happen at St Andrews, the home of golf, to break through as a major winner would be a dream come true, there's no doubt about that. I feel like I've been playing well . . . it would be something amazing and I hope to have a chance of achieving that."