About the only negative for Lee Janzen on Friday came in his first appearance in the press building, when he knocked over his bottled water and drenched his pants.

Nothing about his round was all wet, though.

In shooting a 69 to tie Greg Norman for third at 5-under, Janzen exhibited the mentality that has won him two U.S. Opens.

Play safe. Play for position. Don't overextend.

``I haven't tried to try any heroic shots, which a lot of times got me in trouble in the past,'' he said after his five-birdie round.

A case in point was the par-5 15th. Janzen stood 230 yards from the green, with a shot through the right side's trees, and he pulled out a 3-wood. He pondered and pondered and pondered, and after three consultations with his caddie, Janzen returned his wood in favor of an 8-iron.

He laid up, hit a wedge to 8 feet, and made birdie.

``If it was a practice round, I'd definitely hit the wood,'' he said. ``Wouldn't have even worried about it. But I felt like I could just hit an 8-iron for position.

``The course is playing tough, so you don't need to make birdie on every hole. Pars are OK.''

The only sense of heroism came from his approach to the 18th green. After slicing his drive deep into the trees, Janzen punched out with a 4-iron. Keeping his shot low, it bounced onto the green, nestled down the slope and settled 10 feet away from the pin.

Even though he's the defending U.S. Open champion, Janzen had distanced himself from the favorite's radar after missing three consecutive cuts.

``These are the first questions anyone's asked me all week,'' he said.

He had been playing with a new set of Taylor-Made clubs, even though they matched his older clubs' specs, shafts and weight.

``They're exactly the same as my other set,'' Janzen said. ``But as it turns out, they weren't quite perfect yet.''

After missing the cut at the BellSouth last week, Janzen called home to Orlando, Fla., and asked his wife to ship his old set to Augusta National.

When he arrived last Saturday for a practice round, he played with his old clubs, the ones with which he won the Open at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, and felt comfortable again.

``I feel like if you take an extra set of clubs with you on the road, you're putting doubt in your mind right from the start,'' he said.