Lietzke Finds Some Time for 63 : Golf: He says the game isn’t his top priority, but his eight-under second round gives him a two-stroke lead.

Bruce Lietzke has his priorities in order. His wife and children come first, followed by his passion for cars.

Golf is No. 4, so he has cut back on his PGA Tour schedule. However, he enjoys playing on good courses and Riviera is a favorite.

Therefore, it was gratifying to him to shoot an eight-under-par 63 Friday and take the second-round lead in the Nissan Los Angeles Open.

He has a 36-hole total of 133, two shots ahead of Ted Schulz, Davis Love III, Jeff Sluman and Andrew Magee.

Lietzke, 39, who has won 11 tournaments in a 17-year career, said his round was set up by the first hole, a par-five of 501 yards, which he eagled with a 15-foot putt.

“You want to take advantage of the first hole, and that’s what I did and it got me in the right frame of mind,” he said.

Then, he made an 18-foot par-saving putt on the difficult second hole, a par-four of 460 yards that plays as a par-five for the members.

“The combination of those holes got me going. My priorities changed,” Lietzke said. “I went from thinking of just making the cut, or shooting a decent round, to shooting lower numbers.”

He said all aspects of his game stayed with him Friday, adding, though, that he isn’t on the top of his game.

“Yesterday was proof of that,” Lietzke said, referring to his round of 70.

Lietzke said it was his best round at Riviera, adding that he has only skipped the L.A. Open about five times in his career.

He said he doesn’t have 100% control of his iron shots, but they ended up beneath the hole for uphill putts.

“That’s how you take advantage of Riviera,” Lietzke said. “I made almost all the makeable putts I had today.”

After his eagle-par start, Lietzke birdied the sixth, eighth and ninth holes with putts ranging from 10 to 20 feet.

He chipped to within five inches of the cup on the par-five, 561-yard 11th hole, where he got his birdie. Then he got birdies at the 12th and 17th holes with putts of four and eight feet.

And he almost closed his round with a birdie at the par-four, 447-yard 18th hole. He two-putted for a par, his first putt hanging on the left lip of the cup.

Lietzke uses a long putter, but he said he’s only slightly better with that club than he was when he putted cross-handed for 14 or 15 years.

There was no indication that Lietzke would perform as well as he did on a hazy day that became cool in the late afternoon.

He missed the cut in tournaments at Tucson and San Diego, and finished in a tie for fifth at Phoenix.

“There wasn’t anything to indicate that I would shoot 63 today, but those things happen in golf,” Lietzke said. “I have seen them happen enough to know.”

His 63 was one stroke higher than the course record set by Larry Mize in 1985 and matched by Fred Couples last year. Couples shot a 70 Friday and, at 137, is four strokes behind Lietzke.

In speaking of priorities, Lietzke said he likes to spend as much time at his Dallas home as possible and only “grudgingly” travels to tournaments.

He spoke of his passion for cars, especially a 1967 stock Corvette. “It’s outrageously fast, but it’s not souped up,” he said. “The speedometer goes to 160 if I had the nerve to approach that.”

No. 5 on his priority list behind golf? “Fishing,” he said, “and it’s a strong five.”

Lietzke said he doesn’t predict any more how much longer he intends to play competitively.

“I’ve been saying two more years for 10 years now. I was going to retire in 1982,” he said. “I still enjoy myself out here the limited time that I play. But I don’t enjoy being away from home.”

Shooting a 63 would certainly seem to lessen any homesickness.

Golf Notes

The cut was at 143 or less, with 74 players making it. . . . Robert Gamez, Dave Stockton, Bob Tway, Paul Azinger and Tom Watson were among players who didn’t make the cut.

Andrew Magee, who shot a course-record 28 on the front nine Thursday before faltering to a 38 on the back side, had a 69 Friday for a 135 total. Asked what his mind-set was Thursday night, Magee said: “I thought to heck with it (his 38). I called my sports psychologist, Bob Rotella, in Virginia, and he told me to totally forget about that 38.” . . . Ben Crenshaw got a hole in one on the par-three, 178-yard 14th hole. He used a five-iron for his ace. Crenshaw had a 68 and is at 137. . . . In a contrast of fortune, Steve Seals got a 10 on the par-five, 501-yard first hole. Seals is the head pro at Mile Square Golf Club in Fountain Valley.