2013 Northern Trust Open scores: John Merrick leads Webb Simpson, Hunter Mahan, & 3 others

After several weeks of multi-shot, runaway winners on Tour, the final stretch at Riviera features a bunched up leaderboard at the top. John Merrick is currently the leader at 11-under, holding a one-shot margin over other players.

That group of five is loaded with some of the top young names in the game -- Webb Simspon, Hunter Mahan, Charl Schwartzel, Fredrik Jacobson, and Charlie Beljan. The chasers all have four or less holes remaining to catch Merrick, who ran into some trouble with a wayward approach and a bogey on No 13 but has managed to hang on to the lead with just 3 holes left in his round.

Bill Haas started the day with a three-shot lead, but he quickly fell off the pace and his bid to repeat was likely washed out by the 13th hole. He’s made five bogeys in his last six holes and completely lost it. Haas is playing alongside Simpson and Schwartzel, who have the most opportunities to catch Merrick. Among that group, Mahan has the low round of the day so far, playing his first 16 holes in 4-under to move seven spots up the board.

Here’s the top of the leaderboard as the final groups hit the last three holes at historic Riviera:

For a live leaderboard from Riviera, visit Golf.com.