January 22, 2016: SSP Chawrasia suffered pain and agony in the third round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. Chawrasia needed to survive four bogeys and a double on his way to a 77 that dropped him down the order. Tyrrell Hatton retained a slender edge going into the final round, with a second straight 68. The highlight of the day was a scorching 64 by Dustin Johnson, who roared into contention.
Chawrasia endures painful third round
Chawrasia started the week in style with a polished 68. But rounds of 74 and 77 in the middle rounds have left him needing a mighty effort on Sunday for a good finish to the week.
Chawrasia was even through the front nine on Saturday, before courting misery with a seven at the par-5 10th hole. Chawrasia surrendered three more bogeys through the rest of the round to end the day at 3-over 219.
Dustin Johnson sleeps well, strikes better
Dustin Johnson showed he was well and truly over his jet-lag as he fired a brilliant 64 to move right into contention heading into the final round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
While most of the field headed east to the UAE at the beginning of the week, the American faced the long flight west over the Pacific and admitted he had struggled to sleep in the desert in carding opening rounds of 72-68.
A full night’s rest on Friday clearly did him the world of good and he followed it with six birdies and an eagle to get to 12 under, just a single shot behind 54-hole leader Tyrrell Hatton.
The US Open champion will go out in the final round alongside Hatton and 2014 champion Pablo Larrazábal and he knows he will have to go low again if he is to claim a first regular European Tour title.
“Finally I got a good night’s sleep,” he said. “I even got up and went to the gym this morning before I teed off. Definitely by far the best day I’ve been feeling out on the golf course.
“You know, I just felt the swing, my body was moving a lot better. I swung it a lot better, especially with the driver. I drove it a lot better today.
Johnson hit a career-high second in the Official World Golf Ranking in the summer following his win at Oakmont and while he has now dropped to third behind Rory McIlroy, he is still hopeful he can get his game back to its best and possibly overturn World Number One Jason Day.
“I’ve got a lot of confidence right now but it’s still not where I’d like it to be. So I’ve still got some work to do,” he said.
“Number One will take care of itself with playing good golf. That’s not the main goal. The main goal is to go out and put myself in contention and win each tournament that I’m playing.”
Report with inputs from European Tour
