Janzen Feels No Payne

Lee Janzen, who started the last round of the U.S. Open so far behind he could have hitched a ride on a cable car to catch up, wrote his name into golf’s history books again with an epic victory on a legendary course and claimed his second major title.

Maybe that’s what Janzen’s plan was all along. Let everybody else sprint out ahead, then wade through the rough, sneak out from behind one of those moss-covered cypress trees at the Olympic Club and make off with U.S. Open trophy before anybody notices.

But the way Janzen played, well, it was sort of an attention-grabber. It was the largest fourth-round comeback to win the U.S. Open since Johnny Miller came from six shots behind in 1973.

So as far as comebacks go, Janzen’s had to be one of the more interesting ones . . . unless you’re Payne Stewart.

Down by five shots to Stewart when Sunday’s final round began, down by seven shots after his first three holes and down by three shots at the turn, Janzen closed with a two-under-par 68 for a one-shot victory over Stewart.

For Janzen, a 33-year-old Minnesota native who lives in Orlando, Fla.,it was his second U.S. Open victory, matching the 1993 championship he won at Baltusrol.

Stewart, meanwhioe, didn’t sound as if he was going to stuff his plus-fours in the garbage disposal afterward.

“Let’s see, I hit six fairways, Lee hit 12,” Stewart said. “I hit nine greens, he hit 14. Bingo! That’s why I didn’t win the golf tournament.”

So what’s next for Stewart?

“The British Open?”

That’s the next major now that this one slipped away from him. Actually, it slipped away from everybody, except Janzen. Bob Tway finished third, four shots behind, after a 73; and Nick Price was fourth, another shot back, also after closing with a 73.

Tom Lehman did not get any cooperation from his putter, shot a 75 and tied for fifth with Steve Stricker, who had a 73.

Stewart led the first three days, but he saved his worst round for last. His four-over 74 featured five bogeys and a single birdie. That one, on the 14th hole, broke a streak of 24 holes without a birdie for Stewart, who had a chance for one more on the 18th hole that would have caught Janzen and forced a playoff.

Playing two groups ahead of Stewart, Janzen was watching on television as Stewart stood over a 20-foot, downhill, right-to-left-breaking birdie putt. He gave the ball a good roll, but it spun past the hole about six inches to the left.

Janzen smiled wanly, hugged his wife, Beverly, dropped his head and dabbed his eyes with a towel.

“I wasn’t thinking about winning when I teed off today,” said Janzen, who also refused to look at the scoreboard the last six holes. “I didn’t want to jinx myself.”

It was basically a two-man race all day, once Janzen recovered from a slow start in which he bogeyed two of the first three holes. By then, he was seven shots behind Stewart. When Stewart started making bogeys, Janzen took off in the other direction.

He got a huge break at No. 5 when he knocked his golf ball into a tree with his four-wood off the tee. At first, no one was able to locate the ball, but some fans with binoculars spotted it. Janzen was just about ready to go back to the tee when a gust of wind came up and the ball blew out of the tree.

Janzen chipped back out to the fairway, knocked a six-iron over the green, but chipped in for par. If there is any such thing as luck, Janzen had it. He had the tree to thank.

What kind of tree was it?

“A big one,” Janzen said.

By the time Stewart made the turn, his lead was down to two shots, and it was gone when he bogeyed the 12th hole. Stewart hit what he considered to be a perfect drive, but his golf ball rolled into a divot filled with sand. Stewart believed he should have been given a free drop, but he wasn’t awarded one, and then he was warned for slow play, which he didn’t like. He appreciated it even less when his next shot wound up in a bunker. Stewart completed the bogey, fell back to even par and was caught by Janzen.

Janzen already had birdied the 11th, when he coaxed an eight-footer into the hole, then birdied the 13th with a five-footer. Janzen took over when Stewart missed the green on No. 13 and wound up with a bogey, but Stewart caught up at No. 14 when he rolled in a 15-footer.

He gave it right back at No. 16 when his third shot, a seven-iron, wound up in a bunker. Stewart’s 11-foot putt for par didn’t drop and Janzen had the lead for good.

It was only one shot, but that’s the only one he needed.

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U.S. Open Finish Line

280 (E)--$535,000

Lee Janzen: 73-66-73-68

281 (+1)--$315,000

Payne Stewart: 66-71-70-74

284 (+4)--$201,240

Bob Tway: 68-70-73-73

285 (+5)--$140,730

Nick Price: 73-68-71-73

286 (+6)--$107,392

Steve Stricker: 73-71-69-73

Tom Lehman: 68-75-68-75