Pacific Palisades, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Vijay Singh and Retief Goosen both fired 5-under 66s on Thursday and they share the lead with round one of the Northern Trust Open suspended due to darkness.
Singh, who will turn 52-years-old on Sunday, and Goosen, 46, were joined atop the leaderboard at Riviera Country Club by last week's runner-up Nick Watney, James Hahn, Derek Fathauer and Daniel Summerhays.
Carlos Ortiz is alone in seventh place at minus-4. Justin Thomas, Alex Cejka, William McGirt and Geoff Ogilvy are one stroke back at 3-under 68.
Jordan Spieth opened to a 2-under 69 and he headlines a group of five players that share 12th place.
Defending champion Bubba Watson birdied the 18th for a 1-under 70. He is among a large group tied for 17th.
The final group to tee off the 10th hole - David Lingmerth, Jim Herman and Drew Scott - were the only three players that did not complete their rounds. They will complete their rounds starting at 10:45 a.m. ET on Friday. The second round will begin as scheduled at 9:40 a.m.
Singh, the 2011 runner-up, birdied the par-5 first, but he gave that back with a bogey on the third. He moved back into red figures with a 10-foot birdie effort on the seventh.
Around the turn, Singh birdied the short, but difficult 10th. He moved to minus-3 thanks to a birdie at the 12th then rolled in back-to-back birdie efforts at 15 and 16 to get to 5-under. He parred the last two holes to end there.
"It's right in front of you and there's nothing tricky about it. You can go out there and shoot a low number. But you miss-hit a shot or get out of position, it's tough getting up-and-down or making a par," said Singh of Riviera. "But I kept my ball in play, hit a lot of fairways, hit a lot of greens and when I did miss, I chipped it real close. It was a comfortable round."
Goosen ran off three birdies in the first four holes to quickly fly up the leaderboard. However, he cooled off as he parred five in a row from No. 5.
The two-time U.S. Open winner wrapped birdies at 10 and 13 around bogeys at the 11th and 12th. Goosen drained a 12-foot birdie try at 16 and followed with an 11-footer for birdie at 17 to grab a share of the lead.
Watney did all of his damage on the front nine. He converted a 5-foot eagle putt at the first and followed with four pars in a row.
At the par-3 sixth, Watney dropped his tee shot six feet from the hole and he rolled that in for birdie. He chipped in for birdie at seven and made it three in a row with a short birdie putt at the eighth. Watney stumbled to a bogey at the 12th, but he got that shot back thanks to a birdie at the 17th.
"It's my fifth week in a row, so I wasn't sure what to expect, really. Started off great," Watney said. "I did get some good breaks out there. Pitched in on the seventh from right of the green. Walking up there, you're looking at bogey and then I birdied the eighth hole from the middle there. Got some good breaks, but I'll take it."
Hahn played the back nine first and posted birdies at the 15th and 17th. After trading a birdie for a bogey from the first, he parred four straight holes. Hahn flew into the lead as he closed his round with three consecutive birdies.
Fathauer also started on the 10th and he made birdie there. He stumbled to a bogey at the 12th, but bounced back with three birdies in a 4-hole span from the 14th.
Around the turn, Fathauer birdied the first and third to gain a share of the lead. He closed with six straight pars to end there.
Summerhays did his scoring in bunches. He notched back-to-back birdies at 11 and 12 to get his round going. After a pair of pars, Summerhays tripped to a bogey on the 15th. He followed with four straight birdies from the 16th to move to 5-under.
The 31-year-old made five consecutive pars from the second. Summerhays birdied the sixth to take the lead, but he gave that shot right back as he bogeyed the eighth.
NOTES: Singh had opened with an over-par round in five of the last six years at this event, and his last four second-round scores were under-par ... Goosen is winless on the PGA Tour since the 2009 Valspar Championship ... Fathauer, Hahn and Summerhays are all looking for the first PGA Tour win ... In his 33rd start at this event, Fred Couples opened with an even-par 71.
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