Will MacKenzie is a surfer, a snow-boarder, a kayaker and once lived out of a van for five years.
Steve Stricker is almost 50-years-old and is your basic Mid-West guy from Wisconsin.
Two different guys sharing the same 36-hole lead at the Valspar Championship.
MacKenzie holed a long birdie-putt at the 18th hole Friday to shoot 67 and it got him to five-under par at the Copperhead course at Innisbrook Resort. “Solid putting. The putter — it’s just saving my life right now,” MacKenzie said, admitting that his ball-striking has been sketchy at best. “I’ve gotten away with some pretty bad ball-striking,” he said.
Stricker has always been a consistent ball-striker and a reliable putter and he put up the week’s best round, a five-under par 66 that put him at the top for the first time in a long time. His round was highlighted by the eagle-two he scored at the long par four 10th when he holed his approach shot.
MacKenzie and Stricker are a shot in front of the threesome of Daniel Berger, Graham DeLaet and Bill Haas. Berger came to the 18th hole at five-under but his approach buried in a greenside bunker and he short-sided himself. That led to a bogey that dropped him to four-under. DeLaet tied Stricker’s 66 while Haas shot 67.
All three of the first-round leaders faltered on day two as winds continued to make the scoring conditions tough. Keegan Bradley was the worst. He went from 67 to 79 and missed the cut. Ken Duke shot 73 and is two-under while Charles Howell III is in a group of six players at three-under after shooting 72.
The tournament organizers breathed a collective sigh of relief when Jordan Spieth rallied with a 68 and made the 36-hole cut. Spieth will start the weekend at two-over, the cut came at three-over.
