2013 British Open: Leaderboard, live coverage and results from Friday’s second round at Muirfield

There are plenty of notable names near the top of the Open Championship leaderboard after two rounds, resulting in several interesting pairings for Saturday’s third round. Tiger Woods will begin the day just one stroke off the lead, and he will be paired with a former No. 1 player in the world.

Woods will play with Lee Westwood on Saturday and the two will tee off in the second-to-last pairing of the round. Like Woods, Westwood will begin the day at 2-under after turning in a 3-under 68 on Friday, tied for the best round of the day. Woods and Westwood are scheduled to begin at 10:10 a.m. ET. Those two will draw plenty of attention during ESPN’s television coverage, but they aren’t the only notable pairing.

Par was once again a good score on Friday at the British Open as Muirfield continued to play firm and fast. Nine players are under par heading into the weekend, led by Miguel Angel Jimenez who is the 36-hole leader at 3-under.

Many players were up-and-down throughout the second round, but Jimenez was steady, shooting an even-par 71. He carded 14 pars, two birdies and just two bogeys on the day. Muirfield’s closing stretch got the better of many players, but Jimenez played holes 13 through 18 at just 1-over.

With Zach Johnson, Angel Cabrera and others faltering down the stretch, Miguel Angel Jimenez is now atop the leaderboard at the Open Championship. Jimenez is in the clubhouse at 3-under after shooting a 71 on Friday.

Johnson and Cabrera led for most of the day, but both have had issues on the back nine. Johnson was in the lead at 5-under after back-to-back birdies at No. 12 and No. 13. He didn’t stay there long, however, as he bogeyed No. 14 and doubled No. 15 to drop to 2-under overall. Cabrera was 4-under through 13 holes, but is now 2-under through 16 after back-to-back bogeys at the 14th and 15th.

The leaders are beginning to come back toward the field as the second round at the British Open continues. Angel Cabrera is one of the few players under par in the afternoon and he now sits alone at the top of the leaderboard.

Cabrera shot a 2-under 34 on the front side and is now 4-under for the tournament. The only blemish of his front nine was a bogey at No. 6, but he got the stroke back three holes later with a birdie at No. 9. Being in contention at a major is nothing new for Cabrera and depending on how he closes the round, he could be on his way to the 36-hole lead.

The British Open cut line is looking more like a U.S. Open cut line as a dried out Muirfield features what many are calling the fastest greens they’ve ever seen at an Open Championship. With players battling through the second round on Friday, the cut line is currently projected at 7-over, meaning all those at 6-over or better would be safely through to the weekend.

That’s a pretty lofty number for a British, but it’s the major that’s most dependent on volatile weather that can quick alter scoring conditions. This week, however, the persistent sun and wind have created a links course that’s running like concrete. That’s completely thrown off the players’ ability to judge how far their drives will roll, their wedges will run, and where their putts will stop. Some watering overnight has slowed the greens down a little, adding to the difficulty in judging speeds as another sunny day re-bakes them. As a result, the best players in the world are carding plenty of catastrophically big numbers and the cut line inches up.

Yesterday, we examined the adventurous process of trying to blast out of your standard British Open pot bunker (set to Yakety Sax, of course). Today, we witness the rather unconventional method of how to play a golf ball which abuts the edge of a bunker:

That’s Thomas Aiken, previously hovering on the cut line, on his way to a double bogey at the 18th and ensuring that his week at the British Open is over.

Zach Johnson’s second round got off to an eventful start. He drove his ball into the thick rough off the tee then hit his second shot through the fairway and into more rough as he attempted to lay up.

Despite the issues getting to the green, Johnson was less than an inch away from making par. He hit his putt with excellent pace and read the break perfectly. It appeared on it’s way to breaking into the cup ... but then it stopped. Johnson could hardly believe it and he stopped in his tracks about as quickly as the ball stopped on the edge of the cup.

The irritating second round for Tiger Woods continues at the British Open, as the world’s top ranked player has failed to make a move up the leaderboard and has actually lost a shot since making the turn at Muirfield. Tiger went out in even-par 36, a potentially low number ruined by two missed three-foot putts. But he was still in fine position to make another back-nine run comparable to the charge he made on Thursday.

Tiger, however, has stalled out early on the back nine. He made bogey at No. 11 after a poor chip shot prevented an up-and-down save. Woods’ short game in Scotland this week has been spotty, to say the least, and on No. 11 he sent his chip shot well past the cup. He could not make the combacker putt, which was about 14 feet and settled for his third bogey of the day to fall to 1-under. At No. 13, he had to make a moderate-length putt to save par after another questionable lag putt. The work around and on the green, which was critical to his three-birdie-in-four-hole run at the start of the back nine yesterday, has simply not been there for Woods.

Rory McIlroy was out of the British Open just a couple hours into his tournament on Thursday, his 2013 woes continuing in perhaps his worst performance of the season. McIlroy is clearly lost and constantly looks like he wants to get off the course. After the opening round 79, he used the term “brain dead” to describe his play and approach at Muirfield.

And of course, the unrelenting British tabloids took those quotes and ran with them for some nice Friday morning headlines:

Tiger Woods has made the turn at Muirield, and the world’s No. 1 player is currently 2-under for the Open Championship and even-par in the second round. Woods repeatedly put himself in position for birdies and easy pars, but two missed bunny putts led to a disappointing even-par outward 36. That would be a generally acceptable number at a major championship, but Tiger had a chance to be right at the top of the leaderboard with the way he was striking his irons.

Woods’ form was on point early, and he consistently put his approach iron shots in the right and safe places on the green. That precision led to tap-in birdies at No. 3 and No. 5, but the grip on the putter got a bit tight at No. 4 and No. 8. On the par-4 fourth, Woods put his tee shot in a good spot right on the front of the green. He watched playing partner Graeme McDowell lag one up to the cup, but Tiger, who was on almost the same line, still left his short with a little meat for the par. And he lipped out the bunny.

Saved for one missed short putt, it’s been a strong start for Tiger Woods in the second round of the 2013 British Open Championship. Tiger is making his second tour through the front nine at Muirfield, trying to make an early charge to the top of the leaderboard on a course that should be setup easier than the one he battled on Thursday. The wind is picking up off the Scottish coast of Gullane, but Tiger still has a great opportunity to charge to the lead before most Americans are even up to start their day and 1st-round leader Zach Johnson has even started his second 18.

Tiger opened the second round in much smoother fashion than his wild drive to open the week on Thursday, when he put it in the fescue about 40 yards right and had to take a drop. Woods has striped his irons so far, and has been solid tee-to-green, including a nice clean par on No. 1 as opposed to the ugliness there yesterday.

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson started British Open week as the two favorites and nothing from Thursday’s round affected that status. The two most popular players in the world finished their opening round at 2-under and inside the top 10, well-positioned for a weekend run at yet another major.

Tiger navigated a Muirfield course that was completely baked out in the afternoon, holding on for the round of 69 on some of the tougher Open Championship greens that you will ever see. That work during Thursday’s grind puts him in a perfect spot to now make a Friday morning run to the top of the leaderboard. Tiger should play Muirfield in more benign conditions in the second round, with the greens slowed up a bit and pins in more gettable spots. He’s 11/4 to win his 15th major, and should stay the favorite throughout the day.

The weather forecast remains the same for the 2013 British Open at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Gullane, Scottland. High pressure continues to dominate the United Kingdom providing mostly sunny and warm temperatures. Winds are expected to be light with some mist and fog Saturday and Sunday in the mornings.

FRIDAY - SECOND ROUND WEATHER FORECAST

Morning temperatures will be in the upper 50s to low 60s on Friday. Skies will be mostly to partly sunny with a northeast wind in the morning becoming easterly in the afternoon between 5 and 15 mph. Afternoon temperatures will be in the low 70s.

SATURDAY - THIRD ROUND WEATHER FORECAST

Chance of morning fog and drizzle, temperatures in the morning in the mid 50s, but warming into the low 70s by the afternoon. Once any fog and mist lift the skies will be partly sunny in the afternoon. Winds will remain out of the east between 5 to 15 mph.

ESPN’s coverage of the second round of the British Open will begin bright and early on Friday and once again viewers will be able to watch a lot of the action online.

While the live coverage won’t begin until 4 a.m. ET, ESPN’s second-round coverage starts online at 2:30 a.m. on ESPN3 with @TheOpen Live. The preview show will run until 4 a.m. when live coverage begins both on television and via multiple online streams. ESPN3 will offer viewers a few streaming options, including a dedicated stream of holes No. 1 and 18 and another stream featuring holes No. 7, No. 8 and No. 9.