SSP Chawrasia endured a nightmarish back nine in the third round after surviving the threat of a missed cut in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf tournament here today.
The three-time European Tour winner and current Hero Indian Open champion, Chawrasia, who carded 68-74 in the first two rounds tumbled to six-over 77 in the third. He is now Tied-73rd.
Meanwhile, Indian amateur Rayhan Thomas, who is based in Dubai, missed the cut after rounds of 73-74 in his first appearance at the Abu Dhabi event.
Chawrasia, who was even par for the front nine, had a double bogey on 10th and bogeys on 11th, 13th and 16th.
"Hopefully I can retrieve something tomorrow," said a disappointed Chawrasia, who is due to play in Qatar Masters and Dubai Desert Classic in the next two weeks.
American Dustin Johnson seemed to have recovered from jet lag, which saw him shoot 72 in first round as he followed his secondround 68 with a stunning 64 to put himself right in contention.
Johnson made six birdies and an eagle to catapult himself to within one shot of the lead.
The leader was Tyrell Hatton (67-68-68) and Dustin Johnson had four others, Pablo Larrazabal, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Tommy Fleetwood and Martin Kaymer in the second spot.
South Korea's Byeong-hun An, Irishman Paul Dunne and Swede Peter Hanson were then at 11-under.
However, some big names missed the cut and among them were Danny Willett, the Masters champion, Mathew Fitzpatrick, Alex Levy and Thongchai Jaidee.
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