Watson works his way into the lead at Riviera
LOS ANGELES – Bubba Watson saved par from near a concession stand to the right and down the hill from the 18th green Saturday at Riviera and shot a 4-under 67 to build a one-shot lead in the Northern Trust Open.
Watson will be going for his second victory in three years at Riviera.
There is no shortage of stars trying to catch him. The 10 players within three shots of the lead include Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott and Hideki Matsuyama.
“Knowing that I’ve won here and knowing that I can play around here, obviously I have a little bit of an advantage on the guy that probably hasn’t won here,” Watson said.
He was at 12-under 201, one shot ahead of Johnson, Jason Kokrak and Chez Reavie.
Kokrak, the 36-hole leader, made three birdies on the back nine to salvage a 70 and remain in the final group. Reavie had a three-shot lead at one point on the back nine, courtesy of a perfectly placed drive that led to eagle on No. 2. But he missed a pair of 8-foot par putts on consecutive holes and had to settle for a 69.
For all the birdies, the final round was shaped largely by pars on the 18th hole.
McIlroy, making his debut at Riviera, made three birdies on the back nine to reach 10 under when he pushed his tee shot too far right on the 18th for the second straight day. This time, he played too much of a fade around the eucalyptus trees, and it tumbled down the hill next to the concessions stand. His chip raced by the hole, leaving a downhill par putt form 18 feet that he made for par.
“That’s one of the loudest cheers I’ve had in a while,” McIlroy said. “It would be nice to hear something like that again tomorrow.”
He shot 67 and was two shots behind, a group that included Scott (67), UCLA alum Kevin Chappell (66), the resurgent K.J. Choi (67) and Marc Leishman (68).
Kang in lead at Aussie Open:
American Danielle Kang shot a 5-under 67 for a share of the third-round lead in the Women’s Australian Open with South Korea’s Jenny Shin and Japan’s Haru Nomura.
Kang, the 2010 and 2011 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion, matched Shin and Nomura at 9-under 207 on The Grange’s West Course. Shin and Nomura each shot 70.
Top-ranked defending champion Lydia Ko and five-time winner Karrie Webb were a stroke back. Ko shot a 68, and Webb had a 70. Ko won the New Zealand Women’s Open last week.
Soo-min shoots 7-under 64:
South Korea’s Lee Soo-min shot a 7-under 64 at Royal Selangor to take a three-stroke lead in the Maybank Championship Malaysia.
Lee had a 15-under 198 total. Australia’s Marcus Fraser was second after a 66.
The tournament is sanctioned by the European and Asian tours.