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Sergio Garcia has been Wile E. Coyote to Tiger Woods’ Roadrunner contributor Jim McCabe writes.

Eight times in his PGA Tour career Els has won a tournament in which Woods was entered — two of them being majors (1997 U.S. Open, 2002 British Open). But clearly, Woods has gotten the better of his counterpart and one memory stands out from the 2000 British Open.

Els came in late in the day as your clubhouse leader at 6-under 66 and one of the first questions was in regards to the 67 fired earlier in the day by Woods. The reporter wanted to know if that was in any way deflating to Els. His mood, so upbeat minutes earlier, was soon sullen, and for good reason. Even with a small victory over Woods, Els had been defeated by the phenom and he expressed exasperation that he would have to comment on another man’s round of golf that was, for that day, anyway, inferior to his.

You could sympathize with Els, who had a good point. But it was lost in the glory of Woods’ eventual eight-stroke win that year at St. Andrews and very little has changed over the next seven seasons. Woods has remained the story, no matter what his scores, and even world-class players have learned to eat his dust.

Garcia and Els perhaps more than anyone else, much to their chagrin.

For his part, Els has at least been able to cling to those three major championships, only one of which was won before Woods came on the pro scene. Certainly, Els can take real pride in that.

But for Garcia, the pain has been very real, made even more so by the frosty relationship between he and Woods. Simply put, Woods and Garcia have never exchanged birthday cards and by beating him in those major championships — and just about every other PGA Tour event, too — the game’s greatest player has repeatedly sent a message to the young Spaniard.

Special feature British Open champions These golfers have conquered the field to claim top honors at the oldest major. NBCSports.com

That’s because the messenger is out of commission, which means just one thing for Garcia: “Carpe diem.”

That’s Latin and he prefers Spanish, but trust me, it fits.