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Shell
Houston Open
TPC at The Woodlands
Houston, Texas
30th April - 3rd
May 1998Par
72 Prize Money $2.0 million Second
Round Report Second
Round Scores
First Round Report
First
Round Scores Forsman,
Janzen share lead Associated
Press The
Woodlands, Houston, Texas, 1st May 1998 - Lee Janzen solved
some of his putting woes and put himself in contention at the Shell Houston Open.
"I discovered
I didn't have enough loft in my putter and I got my hands too far back,"
Janzen said today after a steady 3-under-par 69 enabled him to pull into a tie
for the lead with Dan Forsman after two rounds over the Tournament Players Course
at The Woodlands. Both
were at 6-under 138, one shot better than David Duval, heading into Saturday's
third round. "It's
hard to keep the putter low to the ground on the backstroke and the through stroke
when your hands aren't in the right position," said Janzen, who has five
top-25 finishes this year. Janzen,
who started the day 3-under, had 10 straight pars before consecutive birdies at
Nos. 11, 12 and 13, then parred the final five holes. "I
putted great and chipped very well and that was the thing that kept me in there,"
he said. Unlike
Janzen, who had to battle swirling wind and a drying course as the temperature
went well into the 80s, Forsman had a morning round when conditions were better.
"This morning
coming out, I knew the wind was going to kick up. I saw the forecast," said
Forsman, who has no better than a 29th-place finish this year and is looking for
his first victory in six years. He
started quickly with birdies on his first two holes, rolling in putts of 30 and
15 feet. "What
a way to start," Forsman said. "I really sort of got off on the right
foot." But
he had just two more birdies for the round, getting to 7-under for the tournament
before a drive on his 14th hole went far right into some pine straw, leading to
a bogey and a finish of 2-under 70. He
had no complaints, however. "It's
been a real interesting week so far," he said. "I'm thrilled to be in
this position." Seven
golfers were at 4-under 140, including Fred Couples, this year's Bob Hope winner,
and John Huston, the winner at Hawaii in February and seventh on the money list.
Also at 4-under
were Canadian Stephen Ames, Mike Hulbert, Australian Peter O'Malley, Jay Delsing
and first-round co-leader Franklin Langham, who followed an opening 66 with a
74. Couples
and Ames each shot 68, the low rounds of the day. Duval,
this year's winner at Tucson, had three birdies and one bogey for his 70 and a
5-under 139 after two rounds. "I
seemed to hit the ball pretty good for the most part but I haven't quite holed
the putts I would normally expect to," he said. Scott
Hoch, who shared the lead with Langham going into today's play, slid backward,
ballooning to a 4-over-76 and a two-day total of 142. That,
however, was only four shots behind the leaders and put Hoch in a large group
that included Jeff Maggert, playing on his home course. The
little-known Langham, making a second attempt on the PGA Tour after losing his
playing card for 1997, got to 7-under with a birdie on his first hole. But it
was up and down the rest of the round with five bogeys and just two more birdies
en route to a 74. | 
