Graeme McDowell ran up a horror show on the Par 4 13th hole in the third round of the US PGA Championship, as a quadruple bogey eight - which included dumping two balls into the creek - stopped his charge up the leaderboard.

The Ulsterman finished with a 71 for a 54-hole total of 214, one-over-par, in a round that promised more than it ultimately delivered. In fairness, McDowell rolled up his sleeves after the momentum killer of signing for an eight and birdied two of his closing four holes.

On the 13th, McDowell had a gap wedge in his hands for his approach shot and tried to draw it into the flag only for it to keep a straight course, bounce once and finish in the hazard. After going to the drop zone, he then proceeded to put his second ball into the same watery grave.

“I honestly believe the first ball was a bit of a wet mud ball, it didn’t fly very well,” said McDowell afterwards. “My second attempt was a bad shot, I armed it off . . . . I am so disappointed to make an elementary quadruple bogey. It was a card wrecker, tournament wrecker, weekend wrecker. All of the above.”

McDowell, who has been troubled by a niggling back injury all week, said he would be going into Suunday’s final round “with all guns blazing” as he eyes securing his automatic place for next month’s Ryder Cup at Gleneagles.

“The Ryder Cup of course is very important to me, so finishing as strongly as I can is very important to me. . . .I am optimistic about the way I am playing. I am optimistic about my chances of finishing in the automatic places and I would be very optimistic of the chances of a pick, but it will take care of itself.”

Shane Lowry also had a “disappointing” third round, managing only one birdie in a round of 74 for 216. His round also included a double bogey six on the sixth. “That was a real momentum killer,” he admitted.