It’s crunch time at The Open

High noon has come and gone but the real shoot-out is about to get underway at Muirfield later this afternoon.

That’s when the frontrunners in the 142nd Open Championship take 3rd round centre stage and to be honest most eyes will be on the penultimate pairing of Tiger Woods and Lee Westwood (3.10pm tee-time).

It should be a classic duel in the sun between Westy, still seeking that elusive first major victory, and Woods – desperate to land his 15th and end his five-year majors drought.

Most of the afternoon’s galleries will be following this strongly fancied duo although most locals will be cheering on Scot Martin Laird who tees it up at 3pm with big-hitting American Dustin Johnson. Laird is not exactly a Local Hero (he’s been based in the US for many years) but nevertheless he’s on home soil and what the Scots would give to celebrate another major sporting triumph following Andy Murray’s recent Wimbledon success.

The brunt of the pressure will be on the final pairing of veteran Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez and in-form Swede Henrik Stenson (3.20pm) but these players are both experienced to know that Saturday is traditionally ‘moving day’ and they’ll be desperate to buck that trend and stay on top of the pile.

But it won’t be easy: the East Lothian links has proved a formidable foe and the field is so tightly bunched – six shots separate the leading 30-plus players – that so many players will fancy their chances, specially if they post a good score (anything below par would be acceptable) today.

So many class acts lie in wait just behind the pacesetters and right there among them are 2011 champion Darren Clarke, Aussie Adam Scott, who should have won 12 months ago, and Phil Mickelson who is slowly but surely eventually getting used to the nuances of links golf.

All three are on +1 as are Ian Poulter and former Masters champion Bubba Watson who should provide plenty of fireworks between them from 1.55pm.

Let the ‘shooting’ – and moving – begin…