Page 17 - AT

A17
Thursday 27 sepTember 2018

CAUGHT

KNAPP-ING

Europe's Sergio Garcia cel-
ebrates for fans after passed
on the ninth during a prac-
tice round for the 2018 Ryder
Cup in Saint-Quentin-en-Yve-
lines, outside Paris, France,
Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018.
Associated Press

'Everyone loves

Sergio': Garcia
proving worth

at Ryder Cup

By STEVE DOUGLAS
SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVE-
LINES, France (AP) — As the
missed cuts mounted, Ser-
gio Garcia started to fear
his status as a constant in
Europe's Ryder Cup team
was coming to an end.
He was a major champion
at long last. His Ryder Cup
record — 22 1/2 points
in eight appearances —
spoke for itself. His gravitas
in European golf was not in
question.
But his form wasn't quite
there and he knew it.
"It feels like it's kind of get-
ting a little farther away,"
Garcia said, recalling the
doubts that set in after fail-
ing to make the weekend
in all four majors. "You still
kind of see it, but it starts to
get too far away."
As it turned out, there was
no need to worry. Thomas
Bjorn was so convinced Rox take over 2nd wild card spot
about Garcia's importance
to the European cause, as
much in the team room as
on the course, that he was
always going to pick the
Spaniard as one of his four Philadelphia Phillies' Andrew Knapp reacts after a strike during the seventh inning of the team's baseball game against the Colo-
rado Rockies on Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2018, in Denver.
wild-card selections. Associated Press
Continued on Page 23 Page 21