Pressure From Past Can’t Dent Armour : Golf: Hall of Famer’s grandson repeats his opening round 66 and puts himself in line for second victory of year.

Carrying one of the more famous names in golf history doesn’t faze Tommy Armour III.

Armour, 30, whose grandfather is a charter member of the PGA Hall of Fame, just wants to make it big on his own. He has had a struggle that dates back nine years, but may finally be headed in that direction. He scored his first PGA Tour victory in the Phoenix Open three weeks ago, and is hot on the trail of another in the Shearson Lehman Hutton Open at Torrey Pines.

Displaying remarkable consistency. Armour followed his 66 in Thursday’s first round on the North course with another 66 Friday on the more challenging South course. His 36-hole total of 132 is good for third place, two strokes behind leader Bob Eastwood and one behind runnerup Dan Forsman.

Asked if his heritage had saddled him with extra pressure, Armour said, “Not at all. I don’t try to work on emulation. Whatever I do, I do on my own.”

Tommy Armour Sr., who died in 1968, won the United States Open in 1927, the PGA in 1930, the British Open in 1931, and 24 tournaments in all. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame when it was founded in 1940, along with such legendary golfers as Bobby Jones, Walter Hagen and Gene Sarazen.

There is little if any physical resemblance between the senior Armour and Armour No. 3. Tommy Sr. was pencil-thin, and when he turned gray at a relatively early age, he was nicknamed the Silver Scot. Tommy III is a husky 6-feet-2 and 210 pounds, and has a thick thatch of dark hair.

As a golfer, though, Tommy III, an alumnus of the University of New Mexico, has inherited at least a modicum of the ability that made his grandfather a Hall of Famer. And, of course, he uses the same brand of clubs--Tommy Armour.

The middle Armour, Tommy Jr., 68, didn’t follow his father into competitive golf, although he probably could have done so. He was a two-handicap player at one time. Instead, he went into medicine, and is now a surgeon in Las Vegas.

But the third generation Armour has put the family name back into golf, albeit in the face of much adversity. He turned pro in 1981, then had such a bad rookie season in 1982 that he lost his tour card. It took him five years to get the card back, and even then he earned a mere $970 in 1987. That was good for 290th place on the money list.

After that, however, Armour earned $175,461 in 1988 and $185,018 last year, and he already has pocketed $154,589 in 1990. If he wins this tournament and Escondido’s Mark O’Meara finishes no better than third, he will jump from sixth place to first. Paul Azinger, the money leader, who won the Tournament of Champions at La Costa, is not playing here.

O’Meara matched Armour’s 66 on opening day, but skidded to a 74 Friday and plunged from a tie for third place to a tie for 32nd.

There was a touch of irony in O’Meara’s bad round. He had shot his 66 Thursday despite a sore neck, and before that had weathered a back problem to tie for third in the Tournament of Champions and a severe cold to win the AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

“This time I felt good but played poorly,” O’Meara said.

Armour, meanwhile, defied the theory that the South course is two or three strokes tougher than the North. His second successive six-under-par round included five birdies, one bogey and an eagle on the par-5 fifth hole.

“I played pretty steady, like yesterday,” he said. “I stuck with my game plan and didn’t try to do too much. I didn’t have any long putts, but I didn’t need any. I just played good, solid golf.”

Now cast as a prime contender, Armour was asked if he could smell his second tour victory.

“I’m not worried about winning the tournament,” he said. “I just want to play well enough tomorrow so I get to the 18th green Sunday with a chance to win.”