Sergio Garcia and Rory McIlroy enjoyed impressive last rounds at the BMW Championship in Denver to offer more encouraging signs for Europe ahead of The Ryder Cup.
On Saturday Garcia and McIlroy shot two over par 72s to all but slip out of contention for the PGA Tour event, which was won by American Billy Horchel.
However, McIlroy responded with a 66, his best round of the week, to finish tied for eighth on eight under and Garcia shot a 67 to be joint fourth on nine under.
Coming into the closing stages, it looked as if Garcia was going to be Horschel's closest challenger after reaching the turn in 29 and picking up a further shot to stand on the 17th tee just two shots behind.
But the Spaniard put his fourth shot from behind the green into the water and could not get up and down from the resulting drop to leave him with a triple bogey eight.
Garcia and McIlroy were the two European Ryder Cuppers to come in the top 10. They will be among Paul McGinley’s key players at Gleneagles later this month.
