British Open 2013: Projections for Stars in Round 2 Afternoon Wave

Round 2 of the 2013 British Open is underway, and while many players are scoring in red figures, conditions will get faster and harder as Friday's action progresses. Zach Johnson still holds the lead at five under-par after being briefly tied by Lee Westwood.

The going should be tough for Johnson to maintain his lead, though, because he's set to tee off at 3:07 local time at Gullane, Scotland's Muirfield Golf Links. Winds are blowing in different directions than players are used to and there are several other stars currently in contention will be in the afternoon wave, too.

Below are some predictions as to how the marquee players near the top of the leaderboard will fare in their respective second rounds, with current scores listed in parentheses.

Note: Statistics are courtesy of PGATour.com and EuropeanTour.com. British Open information was obtained from the official website. Tournament history can be located at the Official World Golf Ranking.

Zach Johnson (-5)

The 2007 Masters winner lost in a playoff last week at the John Deere Classic, but it was his best finish of the season to date. That encouraging result translated well to the year's third major, and Johnson took care of business yesterday morning to set the pace for the Open Championship.

Johnson keeps the ball low and is very accurate off the tee and with his shorter irons especially, which makes him a significant factor for the Claret Jug.

What's really keyed Johnson's ascent thus far is his putting, as he needed only 26 putts and one-putted 10 greens on Thursday.

There has been a marked improvement lately with the flatstick, but Johnson likely won't keep that up as the greens begin to get faster.

He's in the zone in terms of ball-striking, though, so although he may drop a couple of strokes in Round 2, he'll still be very much in contention entering the weekend.

Prediction: Three birdies, five bogeys and a round of two-over 73.

Phil Mickelson (-2)

Lefty capped off his opening round with a bit of a bitter taste, not birdieing Thursday's second-easiest hole on the par-five 17th and three-putting the finishing hole.

Still, Mickelson is in ideal position at minus-two and is continuing the fine form he flashed last week in winning the Scottish Open in Inverness.

Playing the week before a major yet again has paid massive dividends for Mickelson as it has for the current leader in Johnson. Now that Mickelson is finally adjusting his game to links golf, he has to be a favorite for the remainder of the time at Muirfield.

There is a chance that he could get rattled on Friday by the conditions, though. As Helen Ross of PGATour.com reports, Mickelson called the Open setup "beyond difficult" and was critical of specific pin placements among other things.

Kyle Porter of CBS Sports sums up well what to expect from Mickelson on Friday—the unexpected:

Thus, it should be a roller coaster type of round, but ultimately Phil the Thrill will keep himself in the hunt.

Prediction: Four birdies, three bogeys and a round of one-under 70.

Angel Cabrera (-2)

Majors definitely bring out the best in the Argentine, who has won two and could have easily had a third at this year's Masters in April.

Cabrera didn't strike it particularly well in Round 1, but was uncharacteristically bailed out by his putter for most of the day. At best, he is a streaky putter, and he fulfilled his potential on the greens to get to minus-two.

Hitting eight out of 14 fairways is not a great statistic for Muirfield, though Cabrera typically does hit the ball better than that off the tee.

The best club in Cabrera's bag is usually the driver, given his distance and precision with it. Unfortunately, that's not often the stick to pull at this shorter venue, which is playing even shorter and more difficult with the burned-out grass.

Among the prominent champions near the top, I expect Cabrera to struggle more than most.

Prediction: Two birdies, four bogeys, one double bogey and a round of four-over 75.

Dustin Johnson (-3)

The level of talent and amount of winning Johnson has done could very well line up and result in his first major championship at week's end, and this should be the time he begins to make his move.

In contrast to the leader who shares his last name, Dustin Johnson smashes the ball off the tee, but is so strong that he doesn't need to hit it high to get a lot of distance.

Johnson's past three Open results are T-14, T-2 and T-9, and he's had several close calls at majors in recent years. Now that he's putting better than ever (29th in strokes gained putting on the PGA Tour) and seemingly is on point with his long game, he's going to be tough to beat this week.

As penal as Muirfield's rough is, Johnson's distance and his incredible strength and athleticism makes the consequences of hitting it there not as dire as it would be for most in the field.

Trouble lurks at every corner, but he should have enough strong holes to vault up to the top after 36 holes.

Prediction: One eagle, four birdies, three bogeys and a round of three-under 68.

Brandt Snedeker (-3)

The resilience Snedeker showed after a double bogey-bogey stretch on the front nine was impressive, because things could have gone south in a hurry for the 32-year-old American standout.

Snedeker played the more difficult back nine brilliantly in three under without a bogey, holing a barrage of putts as has come to be expected from him.

Pat Forde of Yahoo! highlighted how impressive Snedeker's play on the inward nine truly was:

Despite not having the power many of the elite players possess, lack of birdies are not an issue for Snedeker, and he also ranks third on the PGA Tour in par-four performance in 2013.

Fairways and greens are the name of the game at Muirfield, but it also helps that Snedeker may be the best putter in the world—or at least neck-and-neck with Tiger Woods.

As long as Snedeker keeps rolling the rock as he normally does, there's no reason he should budge much from the top five.

Prediction: Five birdies, four bogeys and a round of one-under 70.