British Open 2013: Updated Reaction to End-of-Day 2 Leaderboard

A beautiful day in Scotland was anything but for the 2013 Open Championship field. Muirfield Golf Links tested the patience, the talent and the adjustment ability of every golfer on the course.

Miguel Angel Jimenez is the leader heading into the weekend at what's been a brutal British Open. Jimenez (-3 overall) shot an even-par 71 on Friday, and leads Tiger Woods, Dustin Johnson, Henrik Stenson and Lee Westwood by one stroke prior to Saturday's Round 3. 

Round 1 leader Zach Johnson and Angel Cabrera headline those just two strokes off the pace. Elsewhere, Phil Mickelson, Webb Simpson, Bubba Watson, Darren Clarke and Adam Scott all had solid enough rounds to finish just four strokes behind Jimenez. 

As you can see from the current leaderboard, though, not many left the links unscathed. 

*For live look at the complete 2013 British Open leaderboard, visit TheOpen.com.

When play began on Friday, the weather was great and the level of excitement was high. PGA Tour on Twitter was one of many who noted just how impressive the conditions were on the links as the early pairings started their day:

Excitement quickly turned to frustration at Muirfield. 

Tiger Woods spoke out about the course after he finished with an even-par 71 on Friday, and his sentiments in this Golf Digest tweet sum up what the entire field was thinking as various golfers sifted through an incredibly difficult round on Friday:

Look no further than this tweet from The Open to see that in a matter of mere minutes, golfers turn from contenders to pretenders:

Pretenders were more prevalent than contenders on Thursday. 

Just look below the cutline of eight-over to cement that fact. In a tournament where past major championship winners have come to die, Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Jim Furyk and Mark Calcavecchia all missed the cut and will not play on Saturday or Sunday. 

McIlroy continues to struggle on the big stage. He looks lost on the course, and hasn't finished better than 25th in any of the three majors during the 2013 season. Jokes about his current struggles are in full swing, as you can see from this in this tweet from Golf Digest's Dan Jenkins:

Rose was expected to contend to be the first Englishman to win the Open since Nick Faldo in 1992, but it was not to be. 

Luke Donald, Marc Leishman, Billy Horschel and Rickie Fowler also missed the cut. The foursome accounts for exactly zero major championships combined, but more was expected from their performance at Muirfield during the first two rounds. 

So far, expectations have meant absolutely squat for most of the field. 

Those that did just squeeze past the cut aren't going to feel good about their chances over the final two days of action. That group includes 2012 and 2002 Open champion Ernie Els, who dropped three more strokes on Friday on his way to an unimpressive six-over.

That being said, Els is really in a familiar position. ESPN's Justin Ray explains:

Ray's tweet embodies the life of the British Open so far. Although the leaderboard currently favors just nine golfers who have managed to finish with a two-day score that is under par, the leaderboard could flip-flop on Saturday just as easy as it could stay the same.

And, rest assured, that it isn't going to stay the same.

Mark O'Meara, Tom Lehman and Todd Hamilton all factored into the conversation after Round 1. None of those men are anywhere near the top of the board after Round 2. As the PGA Tour Twitter account confirmed, things can change quickly at the Open Championship: 

The back nine was treacherous for the field on Friday. From No. 13 on, five of the final six holes at Muirfield rank in the top seven in terms of hole difficulty. No. 15, No. 16 and No. 14 rank one-two-three on that list. 

As noted by Golf Channel's Jason Sobel and Yahoo! Sports' Pat Forde, No. 16 was killing the field on Friday:

One player who didn't feel the sting of the back nine was Tiger Woods. 

Woods played even golf over the final nine holes and even birdied No. 18. Finishing with a 71 and two-day score of two-under, Woods put himself in position to be the favorite if he completes a similar round during Round 3 on Saturday. 

Ray noted on Twitter that while Tiger is in a favorable position, he hasn't taken advantage over the past few years:

That being said, this is vintage Tiger in Scotland. 

In the top 10 of the tournament rankings in percentage of fairways hit and co-leading the one-putt rankings with Westwood, Tiger is proving that you need talent, accuracy and patience to survive this week at Muirfield. 

If you listen to Rick Reilly on Twitter, you'll agree that Woods' immense putting talent is leaving him as one of the unquestioned favorites during the final two days of action:

Speaking of favorites, what's not to like about Cabrera?

The 43-year-old has exactly two career PGA Tour wins. That being said, his two wins (The Masters and U.S. Open) were both majors. 

As Sobel put it on Twitter, this guy only shows up on the big stage:

ESPN's Trey Wingo posted a tweet that might shed some light on just how significant Cabrera winning his first Open Championship would be on Friday:

He slumped through the back nine and finished with a score of one-under for the tournament, but Cabrera is very much alive in contender conversation. With a strong Saturday score, we might be looking at history. 

Through two days of golf in Scotland, Muirfield Golf Links has been the star of the tournament so far. Jimenez finishes a close second in that department, but the course has completely baffled most of the field and threatens to do more of the same over the weekend.

We saw Merion Golf Club baffle major championship contenders at this year's U.S. Open. Muirfield is doing the same through two days of action in Scotland, lending to the idea that anything can happen when golfers are in pursuit of a major.

Keeping that fact firmly in your mind, throw out all the results from the first two rounds before Round 3 begins. It's for your own good. 

*Stats via TheOpen.com. 

Follow B/R's Ethan Grant (@DowntownEG) on Twitter.