Late push keeps Goosen ahead at Riviera

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Retief Goosen had gone so long without being in contention on the weekend that he wondered how his nerves would hold up. They were tested Saturday at Riviera, and the two-time U.S. Open champion earned a passing grade.

Even though he made only two pars on the back nine, and twice faced tough putts just to save bogey, Goosen never lost the lead. He finished with a chip-in for birdie, reached the par-5 17th in two for another birdie and had a 2-under 69 to build a two-shot lead in the Northern Trust Open.

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"It wasn't easy out there for me," Goosen said. "Mentally, I had to work hard to try and stay positive and focused. But I'm still in the lead, so that's a good place to be. Just try and play solid tomorrow and keep the putter warm and see what happens."

Sunday is the final exam.

The South African is 46 and coming up on the six-year anniversary of his last win. He was two shots ahead of Graham DeLaet of Canada, who had a 70, with a host of contenders within four shots -- Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson, Jim Furyk, Jordan Spieth, Angel Cabrera, defending champion Bubba Watson, and even Vijay Singh, who turns 52 on Sunday.

Gooden had disk replacement surgery in 2012 when protein injections didn't work, and feared his career might be over. Now he has a second chance.

"This would be an awesome win," Goosen said. "It's been awhile since I had a chance to win. Yeah, this would ... feel like a U.S. Open, a third U.S. Open, for me winning this week. I'm going to give it my all tomorrow and fight hard and we'll see what happens."

He was at 8-under 205.

Ryan Moore, whose tee shot on the 286-yard 10th hole rolled over the cup and off the green, was preparing for a long putt up the slope when Garcia's tee shot on No. 13 landed with a thud behind him and went into a bunker.

"I didn't know anybody was on the 10th hole," Garcia said. "I mean, I didn't even know where my ball was going."

The trick was figuring out where to go next. The TV towers on the 10th hole blocked his view to the green, but because he was in a bunker, his only relief was against the back lip. Garcia grabbed a 3-iron and drilled it through a tiny gap in the eucalyptus trees, just short of the green. His chip came up 25 feet short, and he made it for par.

Garcia birdied only the 17th on the back nine and shot 68, putting him in contention in his first U.S. tournament of the year.

Carlos Ortiz of Mexico also had a 68 and will play with Garcia, one of his mentors on TOUR. J.B. Holmes shot a 69 and joined them at 208.

Watson is hanging around. He shot 70 and joined seven others at 4-under 209, still in range just four shots behind. The group included Singh (69), Johnson (67), Furyk (68), Spieth (70) and Cabrera (71).

Also in that group was Moore, who started the round one shot behind and shot a 72.