Time may be ripe for Sergio Garcia to pick up a major

Sergio Garcia is only 25 years old and already has played in 25 major championships.

The next step is to win one.

Not long after Phil Mickelson won the Masters last year, some tried to figure out who should wear the label as the "best player to have never won a major."

Despite his age, Garcia's name kept coming up.

The Spaniard already has won five times on the American PGA Tour and nine times around the world. But what separates him from other young players with bigger trophies -- such as Adam Scott, who won The Players Championship last year -- is Garcia's performances in the majors.

Not many will forget his dynamic charge at Medinah in the 1999 US PGA Championship, when the 19-year-old carved shots out of trees, raced up fairways and finished one shot behind Tiger Woods.

He was in weekend contention at the US Open and British Open in 2001.

He played with Woods in the final round of the 2002 US Open at Bethpage Black and finished fourth. And while he was never a factor at last year's Masters, Garcia played his final 12 holes in 8 under par for a 66 to finish in a tie for fourth.

That alone gave him plenty of confidence going into this year.

"It gives you a little bit of momentum, but you've still got to go perform," Garcia said Tuesday.

"We're all starting from scratch. I'm hoping to do that this year, hopefully three more rounds just like that."

The Masters is the one major where Garcia would seem to thrive.

Augusta National has been good to Spaniards -- Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal each have won twice, and Garcia is the only European to be low amateur at the Masters, tying for 38th in 1999.

He has been asked what it will take for him to be considered among the half dozen or so best players in world, the so-called Fab Four of Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els.

"They are all playing at a good level. Things are going nicely for them," he said. "The only thing I can do is control myself. I can try to get better and keep improving. I'm not too worried about it."

Indeed, there was a quiet confidence about him. He has been around for so long, that it's hard to remember he is still among the youngest players in golf. He made his major debut in the 1996 British Open at Royal Lytham & St. Annes as a 16-year-old, and still plays without fear.

"I've felt confident all my life," Garcia said.

"I've always had the belief that I'm good enough to win if it's my week. Unfortunately, it hasn't happened yet. But I know I'm on the right track."