Lee Janzen had the composure of a man familiar with the extreme heat of battle for a major title. It clearly showed in his calm acceptance of two finishing bogeys, on the way to a one-stroke lead at the halfway stage of the 79th USPGA Championship, under a blazing sun here at Winged Foot yesterday.

Winner of the US Open at Baltusrol in 1993, Janzen slipped from six-under after 12 to four under at the end of play, because of drives into trees at the 17th and 18th. "Sure, it would have been nicer to birdie those holes," he said. "But you've got to handle adversity and I'm still at the top of the leaderboard."

There can be little comfort for him, however, in such a slender advantage over Davis Love, given the presence of no fewer than seven players at two-under, including the recent British Open champion, Justin Leonard. Fred Couples is there, too, having shot a best-of-the-day 67 which was later matched by Janzen.

But the leader's emergence from the group of nine players on 69 overnight, holds considerable significance. Two years ago, Janzen suffered the bitter disappointment of being overlooked as a logical wild-card choice on the US Ryder Cup team for Oak Hill, where Lanny Wadkins preferred Curtis Strange. "I know the only way I can make this year's side is by winning here," he said.

Then there is his admiration for the course and its designer, A W Tillinghast. "I'm a great Tillinghast fan - I think his work is fantastic," he said of the architect who was also responsible for the design of Baltusrol, the venue that changed Janzen's career.

Meanwhile, the contrasting fortunes of joint overnight leaders, John Daly and Love, lent credence to a lunchtime prediction from Costantino Rocca, who headed the European assault on 138 - two under par. "This course is not easy - I would like three under on Sunday evening," said the Italian.

A process of attrition was reflected in the experience of Love at the 16th, where he stood on the tee a clear leader at five under par. After blocking a three-wood teeshot into trees, he took the foolhardy decision of attempting to make the green with a one iron. A double-bogey forced him to accept that "it was not a smart play."

Yet he remained very much in contention, while Daly went tumbling down the leaderboard, despite the boost of an outward 34 to be five under at the turn. From there, the fluency deserted his game on a homeward journey that contained five bogeys and culminated in a 73 for 139.

Couples made a charge which also faltered, though a lot less dramatically. Runner-up to Wayne Grady in this championship in 1990 and third behind Raymond Floyd as far back as 1982, Couples was fired into action at the 396yard 11th. There, a nine-iron second shot popped into the hole for an eagle two.

Two under par for the championship at that stage, he improved his position with a birdie at the next and got to four under after the 14th. But he failed to gain the expected advantage from his power game over the finishing holes and eventually had to be content with a 67 for 138, level with Rocca.

Love's grief at the 16th came back into focus as Janzen toiled over the punishing, closing holes. At the 17th, the leader blocked his drive into trees on the right, accepted his punishment and pitched back on to the fairway. As it happened, a putt for a par stopped tantalisingly on the lip.

And he again took it on the chin when, through a process of over-correction, he pulled his drive into trees on the right at the last. Another pitch out on to the fairway was followed by a short-iron on to the green and two putts. "This is a game of momentum - confidence is your most valuable weapon," he said. "I still feel good about my chances."

At the other end of the golfing scale, Nick Faldo hit a new low in his deepening crisis. A miserable second round of 78 for 153, meant that for the first time since his British Open debut in 1976, he had missed the cut in two major championships in the same year, having already failed in the Masters last April.

In fact the Englishman had missed only three `major' cuts in total before this year - and two of them were in this event. "I played better from tee to green than I did yesterday, but I just putted badly for the first eight holes," he said.

So, his last chance of improving his Ryder Cup position has gone. All he can do now is throw himself at the mercy of skipper, Seve Ballesteros - and he's prepared to do that, if necessary. "If Seve wants me, I will go to Valderrama a week early to try and get my game into shape," he said.

Europe's leading hope here, Colin Montgomerie, also suffered in the sun, though a second round of 71 was sufficient to secure survival. The woeful inconsistency of the Scot's game could be gauged from the fact that he followed four successive birdies from the fourth, with double-bogeys at the eighth and ninth.

The second of these saw Montgomerie carve his drive out on to the adjoining East Course. And when he proceeded out there to try and retrieve the situation, an innocent spectator approached him for an autograph, thinking he had finished his round. "I enlightened him," said the Scot afterwards. I'll bet he did.

Montgomerie added: "My confidence is bordering on nil. If you're not on top of your game, this course finds you out in a hurry." He concluded: "I suppose I could still win if I were to shoot two 63s. But can I shoot two 63s the way I'm playing?"

When the cut was made on 146 - six over par - there were nine European survivors from an original entry of 15. Particularly impressive was the performance of debutant Thomas Bjorn, who shot a brilliant 68 for a halfway total of 140, despite being hampered by a damaged ankle.

Eighth in the Ryder Cup table, Bjorn was clearly delighted afterwards: "I'm proud of myself for the way I played," he said, adding, "this is going to give a great lift to my Ryder Cup hopes."

The remarkable Bernhard Langer also fought back from the brink to make his third successive cut in this event. A round of 71 contained three birdies and was characterised by some delightful short-iron play around the treacherous greens.