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LOS ANGELES -- Bill Haas had no reason to think this round at Riviera was going to be anything special. With an iron in his hand, he failed to make birdie on the par-5 opening hole, the easiest on the golf course. Solid iron shots led to a pair of birdies on the front nine, and with Riviera playing tough in warm, dry conditions on Saturday, he was part of a large group challenging for the lead. Three holes changed everything. Haas made a tough 30-footer for birdie on No. 9. He pitched in from 60 feet for eagle on the scary par-4 10th. And he hit a good bunker shot with little margin for error on the par-5 11th that set up a birdie. Just like that, he was on his way to a 7-under 64 and a three-shot lead going into the final round of the Northern Trust Open. His 64 was the best round of a difficult day by three shots, and it was nearly eight shots better than the average score. It put Haas at 12-under 201, leaving him in good position to become only the eighth back-to-back winner in the 76-year history of this tournament. All he cares about Sunday is winning. "Its very difficult in this game to just pull away from the rest of the field," Haas said. "Youve only seen a few guys ever really do that, and those are guys like Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson. So I think Ive just got to stay in the moment, dont let my emotions get the best of me." A year ago, Haas was two shots behind going into the final round and wound up winning in a playoff over Mickelson and Keegan Bradley. This time, he has a comfortable margin over U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson and former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel, who each thought they did well for a 68. John Merrick bogeyed the 18th hole for a 70 and joined Simpson and Schwartzel at 9-under 204. Luke Donald overcame a sloppy start -- three bogeys in a six-hole stretch -- with four birdies on the back nine to salvage a 70 that put him four shots behind, along with Fredrik Jacobson (72). Mickelson was hopeful of making a move and instead went the other direction. He missed three par putts of about 6 feet on the front nine and had a 72, putting him nine shots behind. Ernie Els, playing with Mickelson, also dropped shots early and dropped out of the hunt with a 73. Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., shot 2 under to sit eight shots off the pace in a tie for 13th. The round started with 20 players separated by five shots. Thanks to Haas and his flawless play, only eight players were within five of the lead. It might not be easy for anyone to catch up to Haas if the sunshine continues to bake Riviera. The fairways were so firm that tee shots were running some 50 yards after they landed, and the greens were firm enough that balls ran out an extra two feet around the hole. "I had a lot of 3- and 4-footers for par," Simpson said. He was pleased with his round of 68 that included only one bogey, but when Simpson pulled out his cellphone to check the leaderboard as he sat down for lunch, he saw Haas on top with a 64. "So he played great," Simpson said. Most impressive about how Haas has gone around Riviera in the last few days is 40 consecutive holes without a bogey. The last one he made was on Thursday when he missed a 4-foot putt. But on this day, it was his birdies and one eagle that made the difference. "I was just kind of plugging along out there and then all of a sudden, made a nice putt at 9, chip-in at 10, good up-and-down at 11," he said. And off he went. The birdie putt on the ninth was about 30 feet, and Haas had to play it outside the hole and hit it with purpose. It broke sharply into the cup, and then he hit 3-wood off the tee on the 10th, leaving it some 10 yards short of the green with the left pin. He had seen Greg Chalmers play a pitch from about the same area to 6 feet short of the hole and figured that was a good play -- anything that rolled by the hole was likely to keep going off the green and down into a valley. Haas hit an even better shot, landing it about 15 feet short of the hole and watching it roll into the cup. He hit his second shot into a bunker near the green on the par-5 11th and got that close for birdie, and later in his round, he splashed out of the sand on the par-5 17th to inside a foot for his final birdie. Simpson, who arrived at Wake Forest the year Haas graduated, figures Haas will have to make a few mistakes for anyone to make a big move. "I think Bill is in a position, if he keeps a three-shot lead and goes and plays well again, that its going to be hard to catch him," Simpson said. "But with the golf course this tricky, you get a guy that has a good front nine, he could be tied or even in the lead with nine to go. So anything can happen tomorrow." Schwartzel is the only player with all three rounds in the 60s. He made two mistakes, one of them more of a bad break. His tee shot on the 10th bounded through the green with such pace that it stayed toward the back slope of the rear bunker. His shot came out too soft and rolled back off the green, leading to bogey. He came out weakly from the sand on the 15th and had to make a 6-footer to escape with bogey. "Its easy to make bogeys," Schwartzel said. "The course got a bit firmer and, playing in the last few groups, the greens get a bit more bumpy. So its hard to make birdies and also to keep the bogeys off the card." "I probably wont change anything," he said. "Just keep playing the way I am and see if I can give myself chances and see what happens. I know the game is good enough to be able to win tomorrow." DIVOTS: Sang-Moon Bae, who shared the 36-hole lead with Jacobson, took double bogey on the 17th hole and had a 76 to fall eight shots behind. ... Charlie Beljan, he of panic attack fame when he won at Disney, felt his heart race when he realized he would play with Mickelson and Els. Beljan beat them both with a 68, and then asked them to autograph his visor. ... Jacobson would have to finish alone in 19th place or better to avoid facing Tiger Woods in the opening round of the Match Play Championship next week. He was in a two-way tie for fifth. ... Lee Westwood fell nine shots behind with a double bogey on the par-3 14th and a bogey on the par-5 17th. He shot 74. [url=http://www.nfljerseysusamr.com/]nfl jerseys usa[/url] . Steven Kampfer also scored for the Bruins, while Tim Thomas made 27 saves for the victory. I thought we played the game we keep talking about, a 60-minute effort. It was a tight game, but when you look back it could have been a different outcome, said Bruins head coach Claude Julien. [url=http://www.nfljerseysusamr.com/]cheap nfl jerseys usa[/url] . And, as unlikely as it seems, there remains a chance he could be running Rex Ryans offence next season. [url=http://www.nfljerseysusamr.com/]http://www.nfljerseysusamr.com/[/url] . Saskatchewan Roughriders slotback Andy Fantuz and Winnipeg guard Brendon LaBatte will both test the free-agent waters at noon ET on Wednesday. FRISCO, Texas -- Je-Vaughn Watsons tiebreaking goal in the 77th minute lifted FC Dallas to a 2-1 victory over D.C. United on Saturday night. Jackson also scored for league-best Dallas (7-1-3), which extended its unbeaten streak to 7-0-2. Dallas also improved to 6-0-1 at home while outscoring opponents 12-4. "That was a great result for us," Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman said. "Je-Vaughn Watson told me yesterday that he was going to score today, so hes good for his word. It was a great three points for us." Watsons first goal of the season was set up by Michels corner kick that bounced past several players on both teams before hitting Watsons stomach near the far post and rolling in. "Thats the easiest goal Ill ever get in my life," Watson said. "I dont care how it comes, as long as its a goal and Im there to finish it. Its a big confidence-boost for me." Watson dedicated the goal to his mother, who he will not get to see on Mothers Day. "I called my mom before the game and I tell her I cant get her a gift, so Id make sure I score for her tonight," said Watson, in his first season in Dallas after spending two with Houston. "The last week in practice, Ive been scoring a lot of goals in practice, so I came into the game tonight determined to score." Dwayne DeRosario scored the only goal for United (1-8-1), which lost a franchise-record seventh straight contest by a combined margin of 18-4. "Its another loss, so its disappointing again," DeRosario said. "I thought we did well in certain parts of the game. Hats off to the guys, they gave it everything they had tonight, but it wasnt enough." DeRosarios tying goal in the 44th minute was the first one allowed by FC Dallas in the first half all season and represented the D.C. captains 101st career goal, tying him with Taylor Twellman for sixth on MLS all-time list. "If we won, it would have been a lot sweeter," DeRosario said. "Its just tough for me right now, eight games with no wins, its tough. But its obviously a huge honour. Taylors a good friend of mine, a guy that Ive had many battles with in many MLS Cups, so to be up there with a player like that, its huge." United, which was embarrassed 4-0 at home by Houston on Wednesday, had three players making their first starts of the season, including goalkeeperr Joe Willis who had three saves.dddddddddddd "I was proud of the overall commitment and the way they went about things tonight," D.C. coach Ben Olsen said. "I thought the spirit was good. It looked like a team that cared and wanted to dig themselves out of a situation that were in." FC Dallas goalkeeper Chris Seitz made two saves in just his second appearance of the season. After D.C. controlled the ball for much of the first 15 minutes of the second half, Dallas began to press again, just missing on several good opportunities, including Eric Hasslis point-blank header that sailed just wide in the 62nd. D.C. nearly got on the scoreboard first when Casey Townsend, in his first start and second appearance this season, broke in alone in the 9th minute and drilled a 10-yard blast off the right post. Jackson, back in the lineup after serving a one-game suspension for a red card, put Dallas on top two minutes later with his third goal of the year. Hassli, making his first start for Dallas after coming off the bench on six prior occasions, found a wide open Jackson about 10 yards out for a nice chip shot that sailed past Willis into the upper left corner. Dallas almost got another one less than a minute later when Hassli boomed a 18-yard volley just over the crossbar. D.C. had a chance to tie it in the 31st minute when DeRosarios 25-yard shot from the left wing deflected off Blas Perezs leg and forced Seitz to make a diving save. DeRosario tied it in the 43rd minute off a free kick awarded to D.C. after Jackson reached out and pulled DeRosario down just beyond the penalty area. On the free kick, Kyle Porter tapped it less than a foot to Nick DeLeon, who left it for the charging DeRosario, whose low shot beat Seitz just inside the right post. It was DeRosarios first goal of the season and the 13th of his career against Dallas. The goal was also D.C.s first on the road this year, as theyve been outscored 8-1 while compiling an 0-4-1 away record. "Im proud of those guys," Olsen said. "There are some positives, but its still the same old things haunting us, the plays that were doing to ourselves." Dallas played without star midfielder David Ferreira, who suffered a strained hamstring Wednesday night in a 1-1 draw against Portland. It is not clear how much longer Ferreira, the 2010 MLS MVP, will be out. ' ' '
