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Darren Clarke has jumped to the defence of Sergio Garcia after Sir Nick Faldo criticised the Spaniard for his efforts at the 2008 Ryder Cup.
Faldo, captain of the defeated European team six years ago at Valhalla, is commentating on the Golf Channel this week and described on Friday Garcia's performance had been "useless" and that he had a bad attitude.
The British six-times major winner later admitted his words had been harsh and was a throw-away comment but Clarke, along with European team-mates Graeme McDowell and Lee Westwood, were quick to defend Garcia's reputation.
Clarke, who has appeared in seven Ryder Cups – five times as a player and twice as a vice-captain, is a co-commentator for Sky Sports at Gleneagles, said: "I think is was a very harsh comment from Nick Faldo.
"When you go into a team room as captain or player it would be very difficult to find a more passionate person than Sergio Garcia. Like Ian Poulter, he lives and breathes for the Ryder Cup. He's a very proud man.
"We all have off days in the Ryder Cup. That's what happens and nobody plays great all the time. Maybe he did have a bad day but it was a harsh comment."
Garcia, paired with world No. 1 Rory McIlroy in the fourballs and foursomes, surged back on Friday afternoon from a defeat by Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley by helping to secure the last two holes and halve their encounter with Jimmy Walker and Ricky Fowler.
The 34-year-old Spanish world No. 3 remarkably found the green from the rough on the 18th to finish off with a final birdie blitz to steer the Europeans to an overnight 5-3 lead on day one.
When asked about Faldo's words on Friday night, Garcia seemed a little stunned and said: "That's unfortunate. I guess he doesn't feel European. That's the only thing I can think of. There's a lot of things I could say about Nick Faldo, but I'm not going to put myself down to his level."
Westwood also responded to Faldo's comments by adding: "Let's take the euphoria we have from today and just crush it."
McDowell stated that Westwood and Garcia were dropped controversially for the first time in their Ryder Cup careers in the defeat at Valhalla in 2008.
The Northern Irishman said: "You've got one of the best Ryder Cup pairings of all time being sat down on a Saturday afternoon of a Ryder Cup that we go on to lose. I'd say Sergio was fairly useless that afternoon, yeah. Because he wasn't able to play. So – I agree!"
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