Janzen

Professional golfer Lee Janzen has been an Orioles fan ever since he lived in Westminster from 1970 through 1976. Though he moved to Florida at the age of 12, Janzen has stayed in touch with his beloved Birds. His attachment has even grown stronger the past couple of years through friendships with pitcher Mark Williamson and former Orioles reliever Gregg Olson. Janzen will be defending his U.S. Open title beginning today at Oakmont Country Club outside Pittsburgh. He spoke recently with The Sun's Don Markus.

PINEHURST, N.C. - The larger-than-life bronze statue stands behind the 18th green, not far from where the man who among those immortalized here made the biggest putt of his career and one of the most memorable in the history of the U.S. Open. Payne Stewart has been dead nearly six years now, the memory still too raw for many of that October day when news came that the private plane he was flying on had lost pressure in the cabin, killing all on board, and later crashed. Under a broiling afternoon sun, Stewart's personality was briefly brought back to life yesterday in a ceremony at the fabled No. 2 course, where play begins tomorrow in the 105th U.S. Open.

DR. CURTIS JANZEN died on December 3, 2004. He served with the Mennonite Central Committee in Germany from 1951 to 1954 as a conscientious objector. He was the director of PAX, a program serving refugees. During his work with PAX, he met Dorothy Hurley. They were married in Chicago in 1955. Dr. Janzen continued to pursue his desire to serve others, first attending Mennonite Biblical Seminary, then choosing a career in social work. In 1958, he earned a master's degree from the University of Chicago, followed by a doctorate in 1972.

DR. CURTIS JANZEN died on December 3, 2004. He served with the Mennonite Central Committee in Germany from 1951 to 1954 as a conscientious objector. He was the director of PAX, a program serving refugees. During his work with PAX, he met Dorothy Hurley. They were married in Chicago in 1955. Dr. Janzen continued to pursue his desire to serve others, first attending Mennonite Biblical Seminary, then choosing a career in social work. In 1958, he earned a master's degree from the University of Chicago, followed by a doctorate in 1972.

POTOMAC -- Lee Janzen's early attempts at golf provided no evidence that he ever would be anything but a hacker.Between the ages of 6 and 12, when he was growing up in Westminster, Janzen played golf maybe three times on the Western Maryland College course."

SPRINGFIELD, N.J. -- Lee Janzen is 28 years old and a golfing millionaire and chances are you have never heard of him. He wins in February in places like Phoenix and Tucson. He takes a lead at the Masters in the first round and slips quickly out of contention long before the final run around Amen Corner.But Janzen is hot, his swing is pure and simple and his putting is fearless.And after two days of the 93rd U.S. Open he doesn't just have a 2-stroke lead -- he has got a share of a record.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- A year ago, Lee Janzen prepared for his first Masters by playing three straight practice rounds at Augusta National Golf Club."By the time the tournament started, I was worn out," said Jan- zen, who shot an opening-round 74 and finished tied for 54th.This year, Janzen varied the routine. He came here last week, played Saturday and Sunday and left for a couple of days. Where did he go, and what did he do to relax?"I went to Baltimore for Opening Day," said Janzen."The pressure is all what you make of it," said Janzen, 28, who spent six years of his childhood living in Westminster before his family settled in Lakeland, Fla. "If you put too many have-tos on yourself, you're not going to do well."

Fila USA yesterday moved to bolster its line of golfing apparel by announcing that it has signed PGA Tour pro Lee Janzen to a three-year endorsement deal.The Hunt Valley-based unit of the Italian sportswear company has been among Maryland's fastest-growing businesses since it took over U.S. distribution from a licensee in 1991. But its golf business has been tiny compared with its sales of basketball gear."Our golf business is so small right now I don't even want to venture a guess as to what it is," said John Hoover, Fila's director of golf apparel.

SPRINGFIELD, N.J. -- They were rushing Lee Janzen off the 18th green, past the old clubhouse and into a different life as the sun broke through the haze.Surrounded by 13 New Jersey State troopers, Janzen looked like he was a candidate for a witness protection program. Fans shouted his name. His wife, Beverly, hugged him and wept. But Janzen kept moving, kept holding the silver trophy that marked him the best golfer in America."I never knew if I had it in me," he would say later, choking back the tears.

MAMARONECK, N.Y. -- All day long, it took bites out of the best players in the world. It chomped on first-round co-leader John Daly's chances in the 79th PGA Championship, nibbled at Davis Love III and spit defending champion Mark Brooks right out of the tournament after two rounds.Maybe Winged Foot wasn't as diabolical as it was during the 1974 U.S. Open, when a New York columnist dubbed the place "Stubbed Toe", or even as nasty as it was for the Open 10 years later. But it certainly wasn't as benign as it had been in Thursday's opening round.

TULSA, Okla. - He isn't the swaggering star who won his only major by staring down Greg Norman to win the 1993 PGA Championship at Inverness. Nor is he the brave player making his comeback from cancer a year later here in the same tournament at Southern Hills Country Club. Paul Azinger quietly put himself in contention for a second major yesterday when he shot a 1-under-par 69 to move five strokes behind third-round co-leaders Retief Goosen and Stewart Cink. It could have been better, given his bogey on the last hole.

He has won one more major championship than Tiger Woods and two more than David Duval. He has won twice as many PGA Tour events as Tom Lehman and John Daly. But few know much about Lee Janzen.This is the one week when Janzen will find himself in that sometimes uncomfortable territory called the spotlight. It happens when you are defending champion at the 99th U.S. Open, which will begin Thursday in Pinehurst, N.C.Janzen, 34, could turn out to be the Hale Irwin of his generation -- a solid player, but never a star.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Lee Janzen is going to rely on his success at one particular major championship in approaching the final two rounds of the 63rd Masters.It's not what Janzen has done here in his seven previous visits to Augusta National, but what he has done as a two-time and reigning U.S. Open champion."I think the way the course is set up, it's going to be similar," Janzen said yesterday.After shooting a 3-under-par 69, Janzen found himself at 5-under 139, three shots behind second-round leader Jose Maria Olazabal of Spain.

After his lip-hanging putt dropped into the cup on the 17th hole at Firestone Country Club during the opening round of last week's NEC World Series of Golf, Lee Janzen got a pat on the back from playing partner Vijay Singh, a roar from the crowd, a par on his scorecard and a lot of air time on the cable broadcast of the event.Too much time, as things turned out.Janzen, who had waited more than 20 seconds for the putt to drop, became the latest professional golfer to be turned in by the sport's rules police, a large and dogged group of weekend hackers who take great pleasure in protecting the laws of the game.

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Olympic Club has not been kind to front-runners in the 43 years since the U.S. Open first visited the venerable Lake Course. What happened to legends Ben Hogan and Arnold Palmer as well as to Tom Watson happened yesterday to Payne Stewart.And what happened to Jack Fleck and Billy Casper, not to mention Scott Simpson, happened to Lee Janzen.Leading by four shots coming into the final round of the 98th Open and by two shots at the turn, Stewart failed to hold the lead he had owned since Thursday and Janzen stormed though to win by a shot.

POTOMAC -- Stuart Appleby was standing outside the interview tent at the TPC at Avenel yesterday evening, signing hats, programs, balls and anything else his fans would extend to him, when he nearly mistook Scott Hoch as an autograph-seeker."

SPRINGFIELD, N.J. -- Their names are Lee Janzen, Payne Stewart and Nick Price, and for one weekend, they are as big a bunch of stars as you can get in golf.They have survived 54 holes of unbending pressure at the 93rd U.S. Open, playing through heat, humidity and history, testing their nerves and resolve against a par-70 Baltusrol Golf Club Lower Course that is long and cranky and ever-dangerous.And that was the easy part.All they did during yesterday's third round was survive, playing exquisite pressure golf while even beating a deadline as a thunderstorm drenched Baltusrol at twilight.

TULSA, Okla. - He isn't the swaggering star who won his only major by staring down Greg Norman to win the 1993 PGA Championship at Inverness. Nor is he the brave player making his comeback from cancer a year later here in the same tournament at Southern Hills Country Club. Paul Azinger quietly put himself in contention for a second major yesterday when he shot a 1-under-par 69 to move five strokes behind third-round co-leaders Retief Goosen and Stewart Cink. It could have been better, given his bogey on the last hole.

POTOMAC -- The Kemper Open is getting ready for its 12th trip to the TPC at Avenel and its first trip to the PGA Tour's version of nirvana.A field that includes Tiger Woods. Though it won't be made official until a week from Friday, the 22-year-old superstar is considered a sure bet to play in the June 4-7 event."As of now, we're on Tiger's schedule," tournament chairman Ben Brundred said yesterday.Woods, who broke a 10-month winless drought with his recent victory at the BellSouth Classic outside Atlanta, will likely play in next week's Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio, and at the Kemper before taking a week off prior to the U.S. Open.

Braves: PGA golfers David Duval and Lee Janzen got a tour of the clubhouse from pitcher John Smoltz. Duval and Janzen are in town for the BellSouth Classic, a tournament that begins Thursday.Brewers: Milwaukee, which has its first three-game skid of the DTC year, had not lost by more than three runs in its inaugural NL season. Slugger David Nilsson went 1-for-2 with an RBI double in the second game of his rehab assignment with Single-A Beloit.Expos: Rondell White's hitting streak was stopped at 14 games.