British Open 2013: Who Are This Year's Top Sleepers Heading into Muirfield?

Major champions are nearly impossible to predict.

Projecting the winner of the Open Championship is even more difficult. Tiger Woods hasn’t won the tournament since 2006. Stewart Cink, Darren Clarke and Louis Oosthuizen have hoisted the trophy on Sunday afternoon in recent years. They weren’t considered contenders entering Thursday.

Don’t be surprised if the guy who finishes atop the leaderboard this coming Sunday is a golfer you’ve never heard of or someone you’d never expect to win a major tournament. The winner is bound to be a sleeper instead of a big-name guy like Woods, Phil Mickelson or Rory McIlroy, among others.

Here are three golfers who may seem like long shots to win the Open Championship but will turn heads once taking the course at Muirfield.

Billy Horschel

Horschel has what it takes to win a major tournament.

The 26-year-old won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans earlier in the year and recently had a great run at the U.S. Open. While Horschel didn’t compete at the Masters, he made his mark at the second major of the year, finishing in a tie for fourth place at five over. Not bad for the second major of his young career.

Horschel has only missed one cut this year, and while he’s never played the Open Championship, he will definitely be playing the weekend. You might not realize it, but he’s fifth in the FedEx Cup standings this season, ahead of U.S. Open champion Justin Rose.

This kid is the real deal. He has the second-best back-nine scoring average on the PGA Tour this year, and that’ll be key to succeeding at Muirfield. He has the most birdies of any golfer and has been highly effective on par-fours and par-fives. As long as he can stay composed, he’s bound to have a strong week in Scotland.

Harris English

English didn’t have the best performance of his career last year at the Open.

The 23-year-old finished in a tie for 54th after shooting seven over. He played even par on par-threes but struggled on par-fours and par-fives, which led to a poor week at the first major tournament of his career. English has been much better than he was a year ago, though. He enters Muirfield with more experience and a win under his belt.

English finished first at the FedEx St. Jude Classic just over a month ago for his first win on the PGA Tour. He hasn’t played as well since, but he remains a player to watch next week. His putting will ultimately decide whether English gets to play throughout the weekend, as he hasn’t been very good this year.

While the former Georgia standout has sunk 21.4 percent of putts from 15 to 25 feet, he’s struggled from close. On putts from three to five feet away, English is only sinking 87.8 percent of his putts. He has to be able to hit the easy ones. Failing to capitalize on short putts will cost English a spot atop the leaderboard.

Kevin Streelman

Streelman will be looking to make his first cut at a major of 2013 this week.

Streelman has had a fine season but has played poorly when it matters most. He won the Tampa Bay Championship in March and finished in the top six at the RBC Heritage, Wells Fargo Championship and at The Players. But since his tied-for-second finish at The Players, he hasn’t made a cut on the PGA Tour.

The 34-year-old has only made the cut at four of eight career major tournaments. He’s only played the Open Championship once—in 2011—but that was one of the weeks he was cut. He shot six over two years ago and will look to make the cut at a major for the first time since last year’s U.S. Open at Muirfield.

As long as Streelman plays well on Thursday and Friday, he should finish with the best in the world. Before the cut, he averages a 71.1 this year—the 99th best on the PGA Tour. He has the seventh-best Round 3 average (68.8) and the fourth-best final-round average (69.2). He just has to make it to the weekend.