Any hope Paul McGinley had of ending a 7-year winless drought was ruined by five three-putts on the third day of the BMW International Open at Pulheim in Germany.

Paul McGinley far from pleased on route to a 77 on day three of the BMW International Open, (Photo - Fran Caffrey/www.golffile.ie)

McGinley went from nine under par and just two strokes from the lead heading to day three to card a 77 and be lying in a share of 27th place at four under par and now eight strokes behind England’s Danny Willett who heads the field by a stroke on 12-under par on the Gut Larcenhof course.

The triple winning Ryder Cup star began well with a first hole birdie but it all turned pear-shape for the likely 2014 European Team captain.

McGinley proceeded to drop shots at the 4th, 8th, 11th, 12th and the closing two holes.

“I had five three putts and a plugged ball in a  bunker,” he said.

“That was what caused the six bogeys I made. “Five three putts. I have never had that many three putts in a round before in my life.”

Typical of McGinley’s struggles was the way he  played the 18th hole where he sent a long distance first putt four feet past the flag and failed to hole the return.

However McGinley was not about to blame his poor day on the greens on anyone or anything but himself.

“I just struggled to get the pace of the greens,” he said.

“I hit a lot of 30 to 40 feet putts a long way  past the hole and then had difficult ones back. It was not as if I was  missing from close range.”