Eugenio Chacarra was in a foul mood as he lamented a "really bad" day that dented his hopes of winning the Race to Dubai.

Chacarra surged into contention at the Abu Dhabi Championship by starting his second round with four consecutive birdies at Yas Links, but he lost all momentum with a bogey at the fifth and finished the day with a one-under-par 71.

The Spaniard improved to three under for the tournament, but sits nine shots off the lead of Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton and Francesco Laporta in a tie for 38th place. His mood was not helped by Race to Dubai rival Rory McIlroy firing a sensational nine-under-par 63 to vault into a share of fourth place.

"Really bad. I needed a strong start, a fast start, and I got it," Chacarra said of his performance. "I wasn't able to maintain it and play good since that bogey on five with the wedge. Played scrappy holes, and that's what you get when you don't play good golf."

Chacarra's confidence was dented ahead of the tournament when his driver cracked during practice, forcing him to put a new one in the bag. Although it is the same make and model, players become accustomed to the feel of their gamer, and it often takes weeks or months to feel comfortable with a new driver.

But Chacarra says that was not his biggest issue on Friday. He bemoaned a dismal day on the greens, ranking 59th in putting in the 70-man field on Friday.

"It wasn't good. I knew I didn't have anything that was going to be great. But it was a little better. It obviously wasn't great," the 26-year-old said of his driver.

"But it wasn't the driver problem. I didn't hit it good. I made bad mistakes. I hit it in the wrong spot. I putted awful. So, yeah, it just needs to get better.

Obviously, not being confident with the driver is making me not trust a lot of shots from the tee box. And then I putted really bad today. I started really well and then just missed a couple of putts.

"I got a big lip out on five, and then three-putted from 10 feet on 14. And then I had a birdie chance on every hole coming in that I couldn't convert. So it's just a matter of working more and getting better. Obviously, I'm not good enough yet."

Chacarra holds a healthy lead over Patrick Reed and third-place McIlroy in the Race to Dubai rankings, but a win for the Northern Irishman will send him to the top of the standings ahead of next week's season finale, the DP World Tour Championship.

The Oklahoma State alum knows he must make ground on McIlroy over the weekend to protect his lead. "Obviously, we know how things are. Everything can change. I need another fast start tomorrow," he said.

"I'm going to go to work today in the afternoon and talk to the team, why that happened. Hopefully we can fix the things for the weekend."