Garcia gives reminder of his genuine potential

Whether the "El Nino" sobriquet refers to the hurricane that is testimony to an unpredictable temperament doesn't really matter, Sergio Garcia's long-awaited first win on the US Tour has enabled his quality to reappear. The wonder is that it took the Spaniard so long to actually conquer America, especially given the whirlwind start to his professional career.

In fact, when Garcia won the Murphy's Irish Open in July 1999, only 10 weeks after turning professional, it seemed that he was poised to emerge as a genuine rival to Tiger Woods. That win at Druids Glen came on the same day as Woods won the Western Open on the US Tour and, so, it was somewhat appropriate that his maiden win in the US - at the Colonial on Sunday, where he shot a final round 63 to finish two shots clear of Phil Mickelson and Brian Gay - should come just hours after Woods had claimed victory on the European Tour in Germany.

When Garcia won his first tour title at the Irish Open two years ago, the win was sufficient to move him to 80th in the world rankings. By contrast, his win in Texas enabled him to improve his ranking by six places, moving him back into the world's top 10 in 10th position. Admittedly, he remains some way behind Woods in the rankings (doesn't everyone?), but the win should return the focus to Garcia's golf - and his unquestioned potential - rather than his volatile temperament.

Ironically, his first US Tour win came just days after the European Tour fined him approximately £5,000 for a temper outburst three months ago at a tournament in Australia for "a serious breach" of the player behaviour code. Garcia had reacted angrily to being penalised two shots for a wrong drop at the Greg Norman International in Sydney after which he argued with tournament referee John Paramour and then twice hit a tree with his club.

That outburst wasn't the first sign of Garcia's latin spirit. It came on foot of another incident in the world matchplay at Wentworth in 1999 when he took his shoe off and kicked it - almost hitting another referee - after slipping when hitting a shot, while he walked out of a pro-am at the Volvo Masters in Spain after nine holes when it was alleged his amateur playing partner threatened to hit him for giving him a wrong yardage.

Although Garcia is just 21-years-old, the feeling that his first win on the US Tour took so long was shared by the player himself. "I don't feel like it should have taken me so much time. I felt like I played good enough to win before this. It's been hard, but I think it is even sweeter now. They always say that the first one is the toughest, so hopefully I'll start doing some nice things," he said.

The best previous finish on the US Tour for Garcia - a two-time winner on the European Tour with victories in the Irish Open (1999) and the German Masters later that year - came in the 1999 US PGA championship when he finished runner-up to Woods at Medinah. This season, he had only secured two top-10 finishes in eight starts before rediscovering his form on Sunday to overturn a five-shot final round deficit on Mickelson to win by two.

The money doesn't count in Garcia's Ryder Cup qualifying quest - he remains in 12th in the European points table - but the victory, and the swashbuckling manner of it, has not-so-subtly reminded team captain Sam Torrance of how important the Spaniard's presence will be to the team come September.

As someone committed to playing the bulk of his golf on the US Tour, Garcia's ability to play his way into the team could come down to his performances in the majors and the NEC in Akron (which is a counting tournament). However, the evidence of Sunday's win - albeit in a field minus the presence of Woods - is that Garcia has finally rediscovered the knack of winning. And with it has returned that boyish exuberance that so enthralled us all when he claimed his first professional title at Druids Glen.

Meanwhile, the strongest Irish representation on the European Tour so far this season will be evidenced in the Volvo PGA, which starts at Wentworth on Friday (the tournament has a Monday finish due to the bank holiday weekend in Britain). Darren Clarke, Padraig Harrington, Paul McGinley, Des Smyth, Eamonn Darcy, Stephen Hamill, Damien McGrane, Michael Allen, Ronan Rafferty and David Higgins are all competing.

Across the Atlantic, Richie Coughlan - who failed to get into tournaments for the past two weeks because of his re-rank - is included in the field for the Kemper Open at the TPC at Avenel in Maryland.