LOS ANGELES OPEN : Love-In Is Turned Into a Free-for-All : Golf: When Davis Love III triple bogeys No. 12, the field closes in. Couples leads by one shot.

There was every reason to believe that Davis Love III was running away from the field Saturday at the Nissan Los Angeles Open at Riviera Country Club.

He had a four-shot lead going to the par-four 12th hole, and then he said he stopped like a train at the station.

When Love shot a triple-bogey seven on the hole, the field closed in and Fred Couples emerged as the third-round leader.

Couples shot a seven-under-par 64 for a 54-hole total of 199. He has a one-shot lead over Love, Tom Sieckmann and Sandy Lyle going into today’s final round.

Love had an opportunity to separate himself from the field. Now it’s a five-man battle for the championship. Rocco Mediate is only two shots behind Couples.

As for Love’s misfortune, Couples said:

“You don’t feel good about it, but those things happen. A lot of the holes look easy, and all of a sudden you’ve made double or triple bogey.

“Our group didn’t mention it. We just knew we were back in the tournament. I birdied the same hole he tripled on. Then I bogeyed the next hole. You’ve got to think about your own game.”

Couples was playing with Mediate and Bob Estes, one hole ahead of Love, Sieckmann and Lyle.

“I felt terrible for Davis,” Sieckmann said. “He played so well through 11 holes. Emotionally, that has to be tough. You hate to see something like that happen.”

Lyle was philosophical about Love’s triple bogey, saying: “It was unfortunate. Golf never was a fair game.”

Love, who shot a 63 Friday, had a four-shot lead going into the third round. He led by five shots after six holes Saturday and was four ahead going to the 413-yard, par-four 12th.

Sieckmann said that Love’s tee shot was only five yards off the fairway, hitting a tree. His second shot also hit a tree, the ball going into a barranca.

He couldn’t get out of the barranca on his third shot and then he chipped to the fringe of the green. His next chip shot was 10 feet short of the cup, where he two putted for his triple bogey.

“I was rolling along pretty good until that triple,” Love said. “Then, I was stopped like a train. I shot one over (par) the rest of the day.”

He finished with a one-under-par 70.

Love recalled that he had a four-stroke lead in the 1991 Heritage tournament on the final day when he scored a triple bogey at the eighth hole. But he still won, so he wasn’t devastated Saturday.

Couples took the lead on the par-three, 168-yard 16th hole when his seven-iron tee shot almost went into the cup for a hole in one, sliding one foot past. He said he has never had a hole in one.

Couples had an opportunity to extend his lead at the par-five 17th hole. He was looking at a two-foot putt for a birdie.

But he pushed his putt to the right and missed it. Sieckmann, in the group following Couples’, birdied the hole. So they were tied, but not for long.

Sieckmann bogeyed the par-four, 447-yard 18th hole and finished with a 66. Couples got a par there for his one-stroke lead.

“I just flinched at it,” said Couples, referring to his putt at 17. “I was waiting for the other guys (to putt), and I wasn’t paying attention. I hate to look ahead, and I do it all the time.”

Couples said he was looking ahead to birdies at 17 and 18. That would have given him a 62, which he shot during the third round here in 1990 to tie the course record. He went on to win that tournament.

He got a big boost at the par-four, 368-yard eighth hole, where he holed a wedge shot from 86 yards for an eagle.

“It just took one hop and went into the hole,” he said. “Like the shot on 16, I knew it was going to be close.”

Couples was the PGA Tour Player of the Year last year. He is an ever-improving player, who has six tour victories and played a key role in the U.S. victory in the Ryder Cup in September.

He repeatedly has said that Riviera is one of his favorite courses, and he enjoys the crowds. A record 41,430 watched the third round.

Lyle, a former British Open and Masters champion, shot a 66. He said his driving could have been better, but he had a bogey-free round.

There is a 70% chance of rain today, and Lyle doesn’t mind wet weather.

“Playing in the rain is no problem,” he said. “It can only go as far as your skin.”

Sieckmann is simply happy to still be in contention.

“I thought Davis was running away,” he said. “I thought we were playing for second.”

Not now. It’s a five-man shootout--or, perhaps, more.

Scores 54-hole totals at Riviera Country Club--Par 71 LEADERSFred Couples: 68-67-64--199 Davis Love III: 67-63-70--200 Tom Sieckmann: 66-68-66--200 Sandy Lyle: 67-67-66--200 Rocco Mediate: 67-68-66--201 Chip Beck: 69-69-66--204 Doug Tewell: 65-72-67--204 Keith Clearwater: 65-71-68--204 *4 are tied at 205 OTHERS John Cook: 67-70-70--207 Mark O’Meara: 70-71-66--207 Scott Simpson: 70-67-70--207 John Daly: 68-70-70--208 Tom Kite: 68-70-70--208 Ben Crenshaw: 71-70-67--208 Craig Stadler: 69-71-69--209 Mark Calcavecchia: 69-71-71--211 Tom Weiskopf: 67-70-74--211