Jordan Spieth battles back to make cut in Valspar championship

World number one Jordan Spieth recovered from his poor first round to make the cut at the Valspar Championship as veterans Steve Stricker and Will MacKenzie held a share of the lead at Innisbrook.

Stricker holed a 60-foot birdie putt on the fourth and holed out from the fairway on the 10th for an eagle on the way to a five-under 66 and a tie at the top of the leaderboard on five under.

MacKenzie shot a 67 as the pair were one shot clear of Bill Haas, Graham DeLaet and Daniel Berger.

Spieth was in danger of missing the cut after an opening round of 76 and bogeying the opening hole of his second round.

But he then went on to hole three shots from off the green, finishing with a 68 for a two-over total of 144 - seven shots adrift of the leaders.

"This was grinding today. I've got some good stuff coming on the weekend," Spieth told reporters.

Stricker holed birdies at the 14th and 16th to catch MacKenzie for the lead heading into the weekend.

He said: "There are times I escaped with a few good breaks.

"Holing out on 10, you don't expect to do that. And that putt at No. 4 was going pretty quick, and that ended up going in.

"So some things evidently went my way. I'm starting to play a little better. Definitely putting better. And slowly, things are coming together."