Muirfield continues to be the star of the 2013 British Open this week, punishing players to the point where the course is the center of discussion, much like at a U.S. Open. But through all four rounds, and particularly on the weekend, we’ve seen some good early morning scores, with players taking advantage of the greens that are less trampled and hardened out by the afternoon sun. On Saturday it was Sergio Garcia making an early move and getting into the clubhouse in 3-under 68, and today it was Jason Dufner who went low with a round of 67.
British Open leaderboard 2013: Jason Dufner, Bo Van Pelt post early numbers
Are low numbers available at Muirfield for a late Sunday charge?
Dufner did a lot of his work on the back side, coming in with a 33 and four red numbers over the final nine holes. In total, he had six birdies, matching Garcia’s number from yesterday morning and demonstrating that there are moves to be made for players within five or six shots of the lead. Bo Van Pelt was another American who got out early and fired a round of 68 to jump almost 20 spots up the leaderboard before heading out of town. Along with Dufner and Van Pelt, here are some of the other early morning rounds under par out on the course:
| Place | Player | Total | Thru | Today |
| T50 | Jason Dufner | 8 | F | -4 |
| T25 | Mark Brown | 6 | 8 | -3 |
| T39 | Jonas Blixt | 7 | 14 | -3 |
| T55 | Oliver Fisher | 9 | F | -3 |
| T61 | Bo Van Pelt | 10 | F | -3 |
| T50 | Stewart Cink | 8 | 14 | -2 |
| T39 | Fred Couples | 7 | 10 | -2 |
| T39 | Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano | 7 | 9 | -2 |
| T39 | Geoff Ogilvy | 7 | 9 | -2 |
| T25 | Harris English | 6 | 4 | -1 |
The green speeds have tapered off significantly on the weekend, but there are still two hours until the final group of Lee Westwood and Hunter Mahan and some of the cloud cover is expected to burn off. As we’ve seen recently at major championships, it’s often the chasers who come through on Sunday and end up holding the trophy, including last year’s Open where Adam Scott dramatically came back to the field and Ernie Els made up a six-shot deficit for the 2012 title. The wind is up but the greens are not as brutal so a move is there to be made, perhaps by Phil Mickelson, who begins the day five shots back of the lead. Here’s the top of the leaderboard:
| Place | Player | Total | Tee Time |
| 1 | Lee Westwood | -3 | 09:10:00 a.m. |
| T2 | Hunter Mahan | -1 | 09:10:00 a.m. |
| T2 | Tiger Woods | -1 | 09:00:00 a.m. |
| 4 | Adam Scott | E | 09:00:00 a.m. |
| T5 | Angel Cabrera | 1 | 08:50:00 a.m. |
| T5 | Ryan Moore | 1 | 08:50:00 a.m. |
| T5 | Zach Johnson | 1 | 08:40:00 a.m. |
| T5 | Henrik Stenson | 1 | 08:40:00 a.m. |
| T9 | Phil Mickelson | 2 | 08:30:00 a.m. |
| T9 | Francesco Molinari | 2 | 08:30:00 a.m. |
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