Janzen has a shot at finding winning touch after 6 years
Shigeki Maruyama tops Bay Hill leaderboard, which doesn't include Tiger Woods.
By BOB HARIG
Published March 20, 2004
ORLANDO - If a golf course was considered difficult, you could almost count on Lee Janzen's name being on the leaderboard. He thrived under trying conditions, as a couple of U.S. Open trophies suggest.
But Janzen has hardly been a factor in recent seasons, and he is hard-pressed to figure out why.
He shot 6-under-par 66 Friday in the second round of the Bay Hill Invitational to give himself a rare chance at victory. Janzen has no wins since his 1998 U.S. Open title.
"When you're playing well, your attitude is good," said Janzen, 39, an eight-time PGA Tour winner. "If you adopt that attitude first, the game might come around. ... I've worried too much about certain shots, worried too much about the outcome and there's been a lack of confidence. When you're playing well, no matter how hard it is, you just go up and say, "Who cares, I'll hit a good shot."'
Janzen hit several Friday but trailed Japan's Shigeki Maruyama by four strokes. Maruyama, who was tied for the first-round lead, had consecutive 66s and was two shots ahead of Darren Clarke (68), Chad Campbell (68) and Stuart Appleby (67). Zach Johnson (68) was fifth, three strokes back.
With a picture-perfect day and little wind there were plenty of low scores. But one who failed to take advantage was Tiger Woods, who damaged his chances of winning the tournament for the fifth straight year.
Woods made things difficult on himself by hitting his tee shot out of bounds at the par-4 11th, his second hole of the day. From there it was a struggle, as he made just two birdies and shot 74. It was his second score over par in his past 21 rounds at Bay Hill.
"Welcome to golf," Woods said. "I tried to battle back, but I didn't quite hit it good enough to put myself in position to make putts. And when I did, I didn't make them. It was one of those days."
Woods hit 10 of 14 fairways and 11 of 18 greens, reasonable numbers. But unlike Thursday, when he shot 67, he didn't putt well. Woods needed 31 putts compared with 26 Thursday.
That means he begins today nine shots back of Maruyama, which certainly is not insurmountable. Woods trailed by nine after 36 holes at the 1999 Buick Invitational and won.
But lately that has not been his style. Woods has not trailed going into the final round and won a PGA Tour event since the 2001 NEC Invitational, in which he was two strokes behind Jim Furyk, then defeated Furyk in a playoff. Of his nine PGA Tour stroke-play victories since, each occurred with Woods either tied or in front with 18 holes to play.
Maruyama, 34, was hardly boasting. A PGA Tour winner each of the past three years, Maruyama didn't feel safe, even at 12-under 132. Woods was tied for 27th.
"Maybe eight strokes from Tiger Woods after the third round, I would have a good chance," Maruyama joked.
Janzen, tied for sixth with Scott Verplank and Jerry Kelly, tied for ninth last weekend at the Honda Classic, his first top 10 since last summer in Memphis. He finished second at the Memorial last year but has rarely contended in recent seasons. Janzen has 16 top 10s in the six seasons since his '98 U.S. Open victory.
That was where he played a gritty final round, stealing the tournament from Payne Stewart. On a day hardly anyone could match par, Janzen shot 2-under 68 at the Olympic Club in San Francisco for his second U.S. Open victory.
He faces not even being in the Masters for the first time since '91.
"I'd like to be there, and I can still get in," said Janzen, who is ranked 113th in the world and needs to be in the top 50 by March 29. A victory at next week's Players Championship, which he won in 1995, would get him in, too.
"If I don't, I'll realize how much I'll miss," he said. "I've got nobody to blame but myself. I expect to at least finish top 40 on the money list (which also gets players into the Masters). I actually expect to finish higher than that. I had all the opportunity in the world to get back in, and I didn't do it."
