Duncan, Riley Tied in City Golf : Golf: Lovett only one stroke back going into final round at Torrey Pines.

SAN DIEGO —  Patrick Henry High senior Chris Riley posted three birdies on the back nine at Balboa Park Municipal Golf Course and tied five-time champion Pat Duncan for the lead in the San Diego Men’s City Amateur tournament Saturday.

Riley, a two-time San Diego Section champion, was one of four who shot a low-round 69. Duncan, 36, who entered with a one-stroke lead, shot 70.

Both sit atop the championship-flight leader board with three-round scores of 213 heading into today’s final round at Torrey Pines South. But neither better look over his shoulder.

John Lovett is in hot pursuit at 214, having made up four strokes on the leader in two rounds. Lovett, the third member of the leading threesome, is a relatively unknown player who has come out of nowhere.

Lovett, a San Diego State senior from Escondido, shot a 75 in the opening round but came back with a 69 in the second round and 70 Saturday.

He’s climbed back into the tournament while flirting with both disaster and greatness. He had six birdies and three bogeys in the second round. He was par through 12 holes Saturday, having bogeyed three and birdied three, but he came back strong with birdies on 16 and 18.

“It was the same case in both rounds; I made too many mistakes,” he said.

Just about anything can happen today, Lovett admitted, but one stroke back alone in second is not a bad place to be for someone who had never played competitive golf and was on the verge of taking a basketball scholarship at a small Indiana college five years ago.

Lovett, 23, an All-Avocado League guard at Escondido High in 1987, planned to attend Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Ind.

“I took two trips back there and it snowed on me both times,” Lovett said. “I’m a 6--1 white guy that doesn’t run or jump real well, so I didn’t see much future in basketball.”

He started playing golf tournaments that summer, and two days before the first day of school, Lovett walked on to play golf at Cal State Long Beach. He transferred to SDSU for his senior year last fall and reached the NCAA Regional tournament in Tucson, Ariz., shooting three under par through three rounds.

Lovett won’t have time to be disappointed if he doesn’t rally to win the City Amateur. Tonight he departs for San Francisco and Lake Merced Country Club as the county’s lone representative at the sectional qualifying tournament for the U.S. Open. He won the California State Amateur qualifier in Bakersfield last month, shooting a 71 and a course-record 66 at Seven Oaks Country Club.

“Being in the final group here is good,” he said. “Pat and Chris are really good players and there’s a lot of good players behind me. The competition is keeping me sharp.”

Lovett’s fast development should come as no surprise, considering his father, John, Sr., was club champion at Balboa in 1971, ’73 and ’75. But it has only been within the past five months that his game was elevated to its current level--a span that consisted of intense chipping and putting instruction with teaching pro Mike Wydra. He hopes an improved short game will complement his long-driving capability.

Lovett trailed Duncan by three strokes when he birdied the par-four, 287-yard 16th hole, using a 3-iron and a sand wedge to reach the green in two. After a driver and 3-iron approach at 18, he chipped on for a three-foot putt that shaved off another stroke to put him one back.

All Lovett needs now is consistency, which is what Duncan and Riley displayed Saturday. Duncan had three birdies and a bogey on the front nine, playing par on the back nine. Riley had a bogey and four birdies, three on the back nine.