The cool, calculated thinking that helped Lee Janzen take U.S. Open titles in 1993 and '98 earned him the nickname, ``The Quiet Assassin.''

After winning the 1998 U.S. Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco, Janzen has been just plain quiet. The 36-year-old entered this week's Masters still seeking his first PGA Tour victory since the '98 Open.

Now Janzen is making some noise at another major. The Orlando, Fla., resident followed up his first-round 67 with a solid 70 Friday at the Augusta National Golf Club. Janzen's 7-under-par total of 137 was tied for fourth place after 36 holes.

During his PGA Tour career, Janzen has won eight times. Along with his U.S. Opens, Janzen prevailed at The Players Championship in 1995. His best showings in 10 appearances in the Masters are 12th place finishes in 1995 and '96.

In his first three PGA Tour starts in 2001, Janzen didn't even make it to the weekend, missing the cut at each event.

``I think it's just been a lack of confidence,'' Janzen said after completing play Friday. ``And what comes first, confidence or playing well, or can you just walk out on the tee with confidence? Somewhere along the line, I've just been trying to work on my attitude to give myself a boost to try and feel better about the way I've been playing.''

Confidence should come easily to a two-time major champion, but after his favorite driver broke last season, the Quiet Assassin felt unarmed.

At last month's Genuity Open in Miami, Janzen found a driver that felt comfortable. Two weeks later, he had his best tournament of the year, finishing eighth at the Bay Hill Invitational.

During the first two rounds of the Masters, Janzen's tee shots have put him in position to make birdies, and his putter has done the rest.

``After you've played here for a few years, you realize how important driving is,'' Janzen said. ``Then the iron game has got to be good enough to give you easy putts.''

On a day when much of the Masters field was having its way with a tame Augusta National, Janzen was stringing together 11 straight pars. At that point, he employed the patience of a two-time U.S. Open champion.

``Even though I parred the first 11 holes, I was never really in any state of panic at all,'' Janzen said. ``I knew there was still some birdies out there. If I could just get anywhere in the red numbers today I would have been very pleased.''

On the par-3 12th, Janzen hooked his ball left of the green, chipped to 10 feet, but missed the putt and suffered his first bogey of the day.

Janzen followed with a birdie on No. 13. His 3-wood off the tee left 182 yards to the hole. Janzen hit a 3-iron to the back fringe then got up and down to move back to 5-under-par for the tournament.

Janzen moved up the leaderboard with birdies on Nos. 17 and 18. On the par-4 17th, he hit an 8-iron to 15 feet and rolled in the putt. A 3-wood, 7-iron to 5 feet set up the finishing birdie.

``I kept hitting good drives, and I kept putting the ball in decent places to putt from,'' Janzen said. ``The driving sets it up, but the putting makes the difference in the end.''