Bubba Watson works his way into the lead at Riviera

Dustin Johnson hits from the first fairway during the first round of the Northern Trust Open golf tournament at Riviera Country Club on Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016, in Los Angeles.

After his birdie on 17, Watson got up and down on 18 for par with a superb 100-foot chip from off the green that landed two feet from the cup. As it stands, he will enter the final round one shot behind Watson. Right before leaving the room, Golf Channel posted a chart that showed McIlroy has more comeback victories (six) after 36 holes than anyone since 2010. “That’s a good stat”.

This weekend has already featured a different leader after every round, so Sunday is shaping up to provide one of the best finishes in this young season. Rory McIlory shot a 4-under 67 and is tied for fifth, two shots back. He was in a large group that included 22-year-old Charlie Danielson, the IL senior who earned a spot in his first PGA Tour event by winning a collegiate qualifier on Monday.

Even with Jordan Spieth missing the cut, there is plenty of star power – and simply power – lined up behind Kokrak.

Chez Reavie retained his place in second and is on nine-under, while Bubba Watson, Troy Merritt and Dustin Johnson are in a tie for third on eight-under. Last year, he enjoyed a beer and famously asked reporters – “Can I?” – about opening it while conducting interviews.

Two weeks ago, Watson was booed at the Waste Management Open after he said he was only playing there because that’s what his sponsors wanted. “I know I can go bogey-free because when I won here, I did it over the weekend”.

It took Watson’s short game on the 18th hole to keep him in the lead. I haven’t hit any balls where the yardages came up weird or anything. He sensed something good about to happen. “Not everyone is just going to fade away”. Ko won the New Zealand Women’s Open last week.

“It’s been a struggle to learn how to play this golf course”, he said.

“I was playing bad – to me, I was”, he said. “And if it wasn’t for them, I’d probably be top of the leaderboard again”.

“I’ve got to play the same way, no matter what”, Reavie said. Schwartzel couldn’t relate to that on Friday. He finished his round at 3 p.m. and the game was starting at 5:30.

Johnson failed to break 70 in any of his four rounds while tying for 41st last week at Pebble Beach. He caught a plugged lie in a bunker on the treacherous 10th to start his round and made double bogey. Reavie had a three-shot lead at one point on the back nine, courtesy of an eagle on No. 2. He also missed a 3-foot putt. “In the playoff, I hit good shots”, said Johnson.

“It’s better than booing me”, Watson said. He narrowed it down to the courses that make him excited.

AMATEUR HOUR: Charlie Danielson gets to wait before going back to school. He cracked open a Coke after his round in the interview room on Friday.

The leaderboard didn’t remain quite that chaotic as some players lost a stroke, but having eight players within two shots of Watson doesn’t exactly qualify as breathing room.