Janzen Rises All the Way to Open Lead : Golf: His second 67 ties record for 36 holes and gives him a two-shot advantage over Watson and Stewart.

Lee Janzen had a modest goal at the start of the year. He wanted to make the cut in the U.S. Open.

He far exceeded his goal here Friday, becoming the second-round leader by shooting his second three-under-par 67 for a 36-hole score of 134, six under, at Baltusrol Golf Club.

“I didn’t put much into trying to be in the lead after two rounds, so maybe the low-key approach helped,” Janzen said.

He had missed the cut in three previous Open appearances

Two former U.S. Open champions with something to prove are two shots behind Janzen.

Tom Watson and Payne Stewart each shot a four-under 66 for a total of 136. Corey Pavin, the former UCLA standout, and Nick Price, are at 137.

Janzen’s score of 134 ties a U.S. Open record set by Jack Nicklaus here in 1980 and equaled by T.C. Chen at Oakland Hills in Birmingham, Mich., in 1985.

Janzen, 28, has been on the PGA Tour for only three years, but he has already established himself as one of the game’s most promising players. He has two tour victories, at Tucson in 1992 and Phoenix earlier this year. He earned $975,445 last year and has banked $516,990 so far this year.

Janzen was even par after nine holes, then got birdies on three consecutive holes--11, 12 and 13--with putts of 18, 20 and six feet.

“It was great momentum,” Janzen said of the birdies. “It turned around a round where I was struggling, just making pars. All of a sudden, to make those birdies, I was thinking birdies the rest of the way in--and I had a lot of chances.”

Janzen, who lives in Kissimmee, Fla., was briefly on the leader board in the Masters this year. He was in a five-way tie for first after the opening round, a group that included Nicklaus, but he faltered and finished 39th.

He said his lack of patience in that tournament was his downfall.

Watson, who won the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach in 1982 with a memorable chip shot out of gnarly rough for a birdie on the 17th hole in the final round, has been one of the game’s elite players--he has also won five British Open championships and two Masters titles.

In the 1970s and early 1980s Watson’s confrontations with Nicklaus were memorable. But Watson, 43, hasn’t won a tour event since 1987 and has been troubled in recent years by shaky putting.

“The long putts are no problem, but the short putts are,” Watson said. “I sound like a broken record, but that’s the reality of the situation. Fortunately in this tournament, because of the golf course, you’re going to have a lot of long putts, and that’s where I’ve been the best this year.”

Watson had five birdies and a bogey in his round. His birdie putts ranged from six inches to 20 feet.

Reporters frequently ask what has happened to him, and he was asked if such questions bug him.

“It used to bug me, but it doesn’t bug me anymore because I put a tremendous amount of pressure on myself to live up to the performances of my past,” he said. “But it just didn’t happen.

“I made the conscious decision to cut back and not play as much because of my family. That’s no excuse; it’s just the reality of the situation. I’ve borne the brunt of failure on that.”

Stewart won the U.S. Open in 1991, then slumped last year while adjusting his swing and trying to live up to his credentials.

However, he has been in contention this year, having finished second twice and third three times.

He is trying to overcome the disappointment of losing the recent Memorial tournament to Paul Azinger, who made a remarkable bunker shot on the 18th hole for a birdie.

Stewart said his rounds of Thursday and Friday were as different as night and day.”

“(Thursday), I felt like I got away with not feeling comfortable about my swing,” he said. “But after I signed my card, I went straight to the practice tee and got a few things worked out.”

Asked about his confidence, Stewart said: “I have a belief in myself, and that I have the ability to (win) because I’ve done it before.”

Stewart had five birdies and a bogey. Three of his birdie putts were in the 15-foot range.

He was paired with John Daly and, when asked to comment on Daly’s reaching the green in two shots at the 17th hole, Stewart said, “I was paying attention to my game. I wasn’t paying attention to John’s game.”

Asked later if it was a distraction, playing with Daly because of his crowd appeal, Stewart said:

“Fans are out there to see John grab hold of his driver and hit it. People were yelling, ‘John, John, John.’ ”

Of Daly’s long-distance shots, Stewart said, “I can’t relate to that, but length isn’t everything.”

Golf Notes

The 36-hole cut was at 144, a U.S. Open record. The previous record was at 145. Eighty-eight players made the cut, another Open record. . . . Ted Oh, the 16-year-old amateur from Torrance High, missed the cut at 76-79-155. He had a double bogey and a quadruple bogey in his first three holes. . . . Prominent players who missed the cut included defending champion Tom Kite and Masters champion Bernhard Langer at 145; Greg Norman, 147, and Seve Ballesteros and Jose-Maria Olazabal, 148. Langer has been suffering from a stiff neck and wasn’t sure he would be even able to play.

The first-round leaders, Scott Hoch, Joey Sindelar and Australian Craig Parry, had their problems. Hoch shot a 72 and, at 138, is four shots behind Lee Janzen. Parry had a 74 and is at 140. Sindelar fell all the way to a 79 and missed the cut at 145. . . . Amateur Dave Berganio of Sylmar shot a 76 and, at 150, missed the cut. So did Mark Singer of North Hollywood, 77-82--159.