After Scoring 68, Allen Still Is No-Bogey Man : Golf: His 131 total breaks the Riviera course record for 36 holes by one stroke. Eleven players are within five shots of the lead.

Fred Couples said that 68 was merely another score Friday at the Riviera Country Club.

He was right, but that score was good enough for Michael Allen to retain his lead in the Nissan Los Angeles Open on another warm day.

Allen, who shot a 63 Thursday in the opening round, came back with a three-under-par round for a 36-hole score of 131, 11 under.

That total broke the Riviera course record for 36 holes of 132, previously held by Hal Sutton and Gary Koch.

Moreover, Allen, who has honed his game on the European tour, is on an L.A. Open-record pace for 72 holes. But Lanny Wadkins shot a 63-70 in the first two rounds in 1985 and finished at 264, winning by seven strokes. And there’s not much breathing room for Allen. Rocco Mediate had a 67 and is one stroke behind at 132.

And there is a pack at 134--Peter Jacobsen, Tony Sills, Gil Morgan and Craig Stadler.

Allen, 31, said he played as well as he had Thursday, but that his putts weren’t dropping as regularly.

Wire-to-wire winners on the PGA Tour are uncommon, and Allen is aware that the pressure is still on him.

“The players are too good to run away from,” he said. “You have to play solid for four straight days and it’s tough.”

Allen hasn’t had a bogey for 36 holes, and he had three birdies Friday after starting from the 10th tee.

He birdied the par-four, 311-yard 10th hole with a 15-foot putt, got another at the par-five, 501-yard first hole with a five-iron and 20-foot putt, then birdied the par-three, 160-yard sixth hole with a seven-foot putt.

It’s a crowded leader board with 11 players within five shots of the lead.

Asked if he had peeked at the leader board, Allen said: “You see it here and there. You basically know where you stand, so it’s basically not a big thing.”

Allen is playing Riviera for the first time. “It’s playing as easy as it’s going to play as far as I’m concerned,” Allen said.

The mild weather not only helped draw a crowd of 27,300, it also was conducive to low scores. For example, 65 players shot par or better and the cut was at 142--even par.

As for his game plan the final two days, Allen, who is playing on the PGA Tour for the first time, said: “You can’t be overly aggressive, nor can you play it too safe.”

Allen said that he has been a wire-to-winner winner only once. That was in 1986 when he won the Bordeaux Open in France. His winnings included 25 cases of wine.

Allen acknowledged that he is in a groove, saying, “When you’re in it, every course is easy and when you’re playing bad, every course is tough.”

Mediate, who was challenging for the lead after three rounds in the recent Pebble Beach tournament, is in another favorable position.

He shot a four-under Friday, saying that his round of 65 Thursday had been a lot easier.

“I worked harder today,” said Mediate, who is looking for his first victory in five years on the tour.

Mediate, 27, said he is handling the pressure better now than he did earlier on the tour.

“In the last three years I’ve been out here, I felt I didn’t want to get into this position because it’s like you’re afraid of being here,” he said.

“Everyone is looking at you. But I’m not afraid anymore. I’m not afraid to perform out there. If I perform well, that’s good. If not, I was there.”

As for his opening rounds, Mediate said: “This is as good as I’ve played in back-to-back rounds on this type of course. I’m looking forward to playing tomorrow.”

Jacobsen, who had a 69, with an eagle on the par-five first hole, along with two birdies and two bogeys, said that Allen’s performance wasn’t startling.

“Allen is a good, solid player,” Jacobsen said. “I’m not surprised.

“I know from my experience playing in Europe the courses aren’t as lush and you aren’t treated like you are over here,” he added. “You have a tendency to become spoiled. On tour, we expect perfect lies on the fairways and perfect greens to putt on. That’s why we have some guys screaming about a little scratchy green, but the guys in Europe love that because they learned to play on that.”

Golf Notes

Hal Sutton, who won the PGA Championship at Riviera in 1983 but hasn’t won a tour event since 1986, is in contention with a seven-under-par 135. He had a 67 Friday. Once regarded as the next great player on the tour, Sutton said that his game is coming around and that he has been working on fundamentals. “I take each day one step at a time,” he said. “I’ve worked a lot harder on my game than people have given me credit for. I think I’ve shown a lot more patience on the golf course than I have in quite a while. Everybody goes through periods in their life when their job is not as important to them as it once was.”

Fred Couples, who had a 67 for a 36-hole score of 135, predicted earlier in the day that there would be a number of scores ranging from 67 to 69 because of the summer-like weather. He was prophetic, since there were 29 scores of 68 or better. . . . Tony Sills, who is at 134, had the low round with a 64. . . . Craig Stadler had a 66 and is grouped with Sills. Gil Morgan, who won the L.A. Open in 1978 and 1983, shot a 67. He is also at 134. “My day was pretty boring,” Morgan said. “I made four birdies and only missed one green.”

Pat Fitzsimons, who won the L.A. Open in 1975 and is making a comeback after some nonproductive years, shot 76 Friday and barely made the cut after having shot 66 Thursday. . . . Prominent players who missed the cut include David Frost, 145; Scott Simpson and Steve Jones, 146, and Chip Beck, the 1988 L.A. Open champion, also at 146.

LEADERS

Riviera Country Club--Par 71

Michael Allen 63-68--131

Rocco Mediate 65-67--132

Tony Sills 70-64--134

Peter Jacobsen 65-69--134

Gil Morgan 67-67--134

Craig Stadler 68-66--134

Donnie Hammond 70-65--135

Fred Couples 68-67--135

Hal Sutton 68-67--135

Mike Reid 68-67--135

Tom Sieckmann 68-68--136

Corey Pavin 68-68--136