Jyoti Randhawa had a nightmarish back nine, all but ending his chances of a making a dash for a top-10 finish in the Mallorca Classic at the Pula Golf Club here.

Randhawa, 14th at the midway stage, went five-over 75 in the third round on Saturday and slipped to tied 49th in the penultimate event of the European season.

The lead was held by Dutchman Robert-Jan Derksen, one stroke clear of the field, with 18 players yet to complete their third round as fading light ended play early on Saturday.

Randhawa had just two birdies, 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.

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, carding a six-under 64 for a nine-under total of 201.

Atwal falters
Form deserted Arjun Atwal when he needed it most and the Orlando-based Indian dropped a final hole bogey to miss the cut in the Miccosukee Championship, the final full-field golf event of the season on the Nationwide Tour, reports PTI from Miami.

Atwal needed to birdie his final hole to finish on the right side of the cut line but all he could do was to drop a shot on the par-four 18th to crash out of the tournament with a two-day total of  143. The cut was set at one-under 141. Currently, 57th in the Money Leaders list, Atwal would have to wait and see if he manages to stay inside the top 60 and qualify for the Tour Championships next week.

Marc Turnesa moved into solo lead after the third day of action at the darkness-delayed tournament. Turnesa came up with a stellar eight-under 63, moving to a tournament record 12-under 130.