British Open projected cut line 2013: Rory McIlroy going home, Sergio Garcia looks safe

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.

Here are some of the bigger names currently at 7-over or worse:

With approximately half the field still on the course, there is the possibility that the cut line moves up a shot. But it definitely shouldn’t come down at all, given that conditions get more and more difficult as the day wears on. So the players who are at 6-over, most notably Sergio Garcia and Padraig Harrington, should feel relatively comfortable that they’ll play 36 more at Muirfield.

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