Johnson, Steinberg Earn Share of Lead in SCGA Amateur : Golf: Semifinal losers at California Amateur, they stand at 141 going into today’s third round.

Entering the Southern California Golf Assn. Amateur Championship at Fairbanks Ranch Country Club, Mark Johnson and Craig Steinberg shared a common bond: Both were semifinal losers at the California Amateur two weeks ago.

After two grueling rounds of the SCGA, they shared the lead Friday at 141. Steinberg, a two-time winner of the SCGA, shot a 69 in the morning and an erratic 72 in the afternoon. Johnson, who finished fourth at the SCGA last year, turned in rounds of 68 and 73.

The field, which was cut from 82 Friday, plays a round today and one Sunday to decide the title.

Although he is the tournament’s defending champion and he came close to winning the California Amateur, Steinberg said he was relieved the day was behind him.

“I didn’t know what to expect,” said Steinberg, who Thursday finished his law finals at the University of La Verne. “I won it four years ago, missed the cut the next two and then won it. The field’s so tough. I didn’t think about winning.”

On the 12th hole of his second round, Steinberg was thinking about survival. He had bogeyed four of previous five holes and looking at a 35-foot chip on the par-three 12th. But Steinberg knocked in his chip shot and went on birdie three of the next five holes to finish at 38-34 for the second round.

“I wasn’t giving up,” Steinberg said. “I was still grinding but I was thinking about finishing with a 75 and being in contention. I didn’t expect to make four birdies coming in.”

Johnson said he expected to be somewhere near the top.

“I’m really striking the ball well,” he said. “My attitude’s really good right now. I’m playing about as well as I can.”

Johnson said he couldn’t have played much better in semifinal match at Pebble Beach at the California Amateur. Trailing Todd Demsey by three strokes with six strokes remaining, Johnson tied the match with a birdie on the 17th hole. But he left his tee shot buried in the bunker on the 18th and bogeyed the hole. Demsey birdied.

“It’s nice to be able to compete with college kids,” said Johnson, 38, who grew up playing a nine-hole course in Barstow. “Todd’s a great player. It was a frustrating loss, but I played very well.”

Johnson was frustrated at times during his second round. He had an encounter with the water on the eight hole that resulted in a bogey. Then, he missed a tap-in for par on the 15th. But Pat Duncan, who played in Johnson’s threesome, kept Johnson loose with his humor.

Dick Kingma, an assistant rules chairman, had a stopwatch on Duncan, a five-time San Diego Amateur champion, throughout most of the day. While Duncan fidgets before every putt, Kingma would look at his stopwatch. But Duncan would only laugh say, “You’re not going to penalize me, I know where you live.”

When asked about Duncan’s slow play later, Kingma said: “He’s a piece of work.”

Said Johnson: “I just ignored him.”

Bob Clark, from Bear Creek Country Club, and Charlie Wi, from Wood Ranch CC, trail the leaders by a stroke, and Duncan is two back at 143. Demsey, who shot 70-74, was three strokes behind and disappointed with himself.

“I had a terrible lie on the seventh hole (of his afternoon round) and I let it get to me,” he said. “I bogeyed the hole and got really frustrated. My game is not to let things like that get to me. I played very emotionally and that’s not like me.”

Demsey played six-over par from the sixth to the 13th hole, but recovered to birdie 16 and 17.