Ryder Cup: McIlroy marvels at 'infectious passion' of Garcia as Europe surge clear

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London, Sep 29: Rory McIlroy hailed the infectious passion of Sergio Garcia after the pair teamed up to play their part in another tremendous session for Europe at the Ryder Cup.

Having come from 3-0 down to lead 5-3 on day one, courtesy of a clean sweep in the afternoon foursomes, Thomas Bjorn's men sensationally extended their winning streak to eight matches by taking the first three points on Saturday morning.

McIlroy and Garcia, playing together for the first time this week, were inspired as they opened up a 4up lead against Brooks Koepka and Tony Finau.

However, the American pairing fought back by winning the 14th, 15th and 16th before Garcia drained a 25-footer on the penultimate hole to spark wild celebrations and ultimately secure victory as Koepka missed his subsequent putt.

"That three from Sergio on 17 was so clutch," McIlroy told Sky Sports.

"The fire and the passion he has, it's infectious. And it rubs off on me pretty well. We enjoy each other's company. We love coming out here."

"It was amazing," said Garcia, who has now won two matches out of two having been named as a captain's pick. "I think we played great all day.

"Obviously they [Koepka and Finau] started coming hard at us the last few holes, but we knew that we had to keep giving ourselves chances ... and it was great to roll it [the winning putt] in."

Garcia is now the second-highest points scorer in Ryder Cup history with 24.5 and can surpass Nick Faldo's tally of 25 if he can combine with Alex Noren to defeat Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson in Saturday's foursomes at Le Golf National.