Two-time US Open champion Retief Goosen is on track to break an almost six-year win drought, holding a two-shot lead heading into the final round of the US PGA Tour's event at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles.
The South African carded a two-under 69 on Saturday to surge to eight-under for the tournament.
It left the 47-year-old two clear of Canadian Graham DeLaet, who signed for a 70 in his search for a maiden Tour win to be six-under and outright second.
Spain's Sergio Garcia (68), South Korean Sang Moon Bae (66), Mexico's Carlos Ortiz (68) and American JB Holmes (69) are well poised at five-under in a cosmopolitan leaderboard.
A further eight players sit at four-under including major winners Bubba Watson, Jim Furyk, Angel Cabrera and Vijay Singh plus Dustin Johnson and Australian Open champion Jordan Spieth.
While conditions have been hard, fast and difficult all week the tournament remains wide open given the forecast of a wet Sunday.
Goosen, who won the US Open in 2001 and 2004, hasn't claimed victory on the US PGA Tour since March 2009 when he captured the Valspar Championship in Tampa.
He led by as many as three on the front nine but saw his lead slip away to just one on the back side after a stretch of three bogeys in four holes.
It looked as if his troubles would continue after missing the 16th green but he watched his 35-foot chip curve in for birdie to right the ship.
The best of the Australians is Matt Jones, who carded a one-over-par 72 to be one-over and tied for 35th.
Jones opened his round with a 22-foot birdie putt on the first hole but gave the shot back by missing the second green short and then failing to get up and down.
A precision approach to three-feet on the seventh hole and resulting birdie put the New South Welshman under par for the day and then another birdie on the driveable par four 10th boosted him.
But after failing to birdie the par five 11th, Jones found the rough on the 12th from the tee and made bogey.
Adding insult to injury he mirrored the effort a hole later and missed the green with a short iron from the fairway on 15 to drop further back.
"This week I should be a lot better than I am but I have just made too many stupid mistakes and you can't afford that on this tough course," Jones said.
"Open style courses you can't give away shots because you have so little chance to get it back.
"I have given away five or six shots by stupid errors."
Geoff Ogilvy shot 75 to be six-over and tied 68th.
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