By IANS
Mallorca (Spain) : Jyoti Randhawa had a nightmarish back nine, which has all but ended his chances of a making a dash for a good top-10 finish in the Mallorca Classic at the Pula Golf Club here.
Randhawa, who was lying 14th at the midway stage, went for a five-over 75 and slipped down to tied 49th in the penultimate event of the European season.
The lead was held by Dutchman Robert-Jan Derksen who is one clear of the field, where 18 players were yet to complete their third round as fading light ended play early Saturday.
Randhawa had just two birdies and five bogeys and one double bogey in his 75. He managed to hang in on the front nine at one-over, but on the back nine, he went four over. He missed seven greens and failed to make par on six of them, which was quite the story of his game in the third round.
It was a big comedown for Randhawa after rounds of 68 and 69 on first two days. In the third round, he birdied fourth and sixth and dropped shots on second, fifth, eighth, 13th and 15th. He also double bogeyed the 12th.
Derksen is one ahead of Frenchman Jean-Francois Lucquin, who also requires to finish his final three holes. Luquin’s fellow countryman Grégory Bourdy was one of the players who did manage to finish his third round. He did that with a six under par 64 for a nine under par total of 201.
Derksen is looking for his third European Tour title after the 2003 Dubai Desert Classic and the 2005 Madeira Island Open.
There is 333,330 Euros available as first prize, but down the line many are fighting to earn a card for 2008 season.