Haas makes his move

Last updated: 17th February 2013

Everybody will be chasing Bill Haas on the final day at the Northern Trust Open after the defending champion opened a three-shot lead.

The American enjoyed another blemish-free day at California's Riviera Country Club as he shot a seven-under-par 64 to move to 12-under 201 for the tournament.

A chip for eagle on the par-four 10th proved to be key to the 30-year-old's efforts on day three as it helped him to ease three strokes ahead of Webb Simpson, Charl Schwartzel and John Merrick, who are at nine under.

"(It's) very difficult in this game to just pull away from the rest of the field," he told pgatour.com. "You've only seen a few guys ever really do that. And those are guys like Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson.

"So I think I've just got to try to stay in the moment, don't let my emotions get the best of me.

"The guys behind me are going to make birdies and it will certainly get closer at the top. So I've just got to try to hang in there and give myself a chance on the back nine."

Haas's bogey-free round means he has now gone 40 holes without dropping a shot with his last bogey coming on Thursday.

"I was just kind of plugging along out there and then all of a sudden, made a nice putt at nine, chip-in at 10, good up-and-down at 11," he said.

US Open champion Simpson and former Masters winner Schwartzel both produced 68s on Saturday while Merrick had to settle for a one-under-par 70.

"Bill shooting seven under is incredible out there. I mean, it was very tough. I felt like my three under was pretty good," Simpson said.

England's Luke Donald remained tied for fifth after he managed to dig himself out of a hole to finish with a 70.

Having started with three bogeys in a six-hole stretch, he managed to get four birdies on the back nine to stay within sight of the leaders alongside Fredrik Jacobson.

Swede Jacobson's second-round co-leader Bae Sang-moon slipped down the pecking order and finds himself tied for 13th after a five-over 76.