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Janzen takes narrow lead into weekend

Lee Janzen shot a four-under 68 Friday to take the lead through two rounds of the Houston Open. Janzen's 36-hole total of nine-under-par 135 is one better than Joe Durant, who is alone in second courtesy of a second-round 69.

Tom Pernice, Jr. has third place at seven-under after a bogey-free round of 67, while Hal Sutton and Kevin Sutherland carded 68 and 69, respectively, for a share of fourth at six-under 138.

Chris DiMarco, the surprise leader through two rounds of the Masters two weeks ago, had it to eight-under Friday but bogeyed three of his last five holes for a 70. He is currently knotted at five-under par with Joel Edwards and Matt Gogel, who each had 69s.

Janzen, seeking his first victory since his second U.S. Open title in 1998, birdied three holes in a row from the 15th, including 20-footers at 16 and 17.

After missing his cut in his first three starts of the season, Janzen has posted rounds of 67 or better in each of his next seven events. However, he has managed only one top-10 in that span, a tie for eighth at Bay Hill.

Janzen was derailed by a third-round 77 after back-to-back 67s over the first two days at Doral in March, then a week later followed up a 64 in the third round of the Honda Classic with a final-round 75. He was in the top-10 through three rounds of the Masters, but shot 79 on Sunday to finish joint 31st.

"I wouldn't say it was a mental block," Janzen said of his problems with cementing his position on weekends this year. "I feel more confident this week so hopefully, I just plan on this carrying over to Sunday."

Finishing strong at this particular event would be extra sweet for Janzen, who let the 1998 Houston Open slip from his grasp when he dropped five shots over the back nine in the final round to hand the title to David Duval.

Janzen, who began the day tied for the lead with Durant, wiped away two early birdies Friday with a pair of bogeys just before the turn. He knocked a wedge within inches to return to red numbers at the 11th, then took sole possession of the lead with his strong finish.

"I drove the ball exceptionally well. I'm hitting my irons well and putting well," said Janzen, who hit 13 of 14 fairways on Friday and has had six birdie putts from within a foot over the first 36 holes.

Durant, whose early-season success has him ranked fourth on the PGA Tour money list, started on the back nine in round two and birdied three of his first 11 holes. He bogeyed the third hole when he failed to get up and down out of a bunker, but recovered the stroke with a 10-foot birdie putt at the sixth.

"I played pretty conservatively for the most part today," said Durant, who followed his record-setting five rounds to win the Bob Hope Classic with the third victory of his career two weeks later at Doral. "I thought overall with the wind conditions and the pins it played pretty difficult."

Friday's scoring average was almost a stroke lower than Thursday's first round, which boasted an average of 73.516, the highest opening-round average on the PGA Tour this year.

John Daly made his ninth cut in 12 starts this season, finishing two rounds tied with Marco Dawson at four-under. Daly has failed to make more than 14 cuts in any season since 1995, the year he captured the British Open at the Old Course at St. Andrews.

Masters runner-up David Duval stands at two-under after a 70. Robert Allenby, who captured the first of his three PGA Tour wins in a playoff here last year, is eight shots off the lead with Vijay Singh.

Among those to miss the cut, which came one-over-par 145, were three-time Houston Open champ Curtis Strange, 1999 winner Stuart Appleby and Craig Stadler, who was defeated by Allenby on the fourth hole of sudden death a year ago.

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