With his cigars and his pot-belly, you wouldn't confuse Miguel Angel Jimenez with any type of sportsman.

But that's precisely what he is. And this Spaniard is a good one. Jimenez is the second-round leader in the Open after rounds of 68 and 71 put him three-under-par for the tournament with a one-shot lead.

Just three-under? It doesn't sound great, does it? Yet only nine men of the Open's 156 starters were under par when play concluded this evening at 8.30pm.

"It feels good to be top of the leaderboard - I feel solid, I feel consistent," Jimenez said in his hurried, fractured English.

"I made good recoveries out there. Sometimes the point in links golf is not about making birdies…it is about not making bogeys."

He is an amazing character. Jimenez also suffers from tennis elbow, wears a brace on his left forearm, and suffered a broken leg in December which put him out of golf for three months.

"I am a 10-handicap at ski-ing," he told us this evening. If he hangs in and wins tomorrow night Jimenez at 49 would be the oldest ever winner of a major, beating Julius Boros' record (aged 48) which has stood for 45 years.

Asked if he could prevail all the way to Sunday, Jimenez said: "I don't know. Let's see what happens. Tomorrow, if I don't shoot low, I won't be here. And if I'm not, I will be kicking my ass."

His mishap on the piste last Christmas appears not to have deterred him at all.

"Some of my muscles there are still just 80 percent, but I feel good.

"I like this pressure. Golf is very important to me. The majors are very important to me. I like to feel the pressure of them."

He's a remarkable golfer, this Spaniard. Nor is this the first time, but in fact the fifth, that he has threatened to win the Open. Would anyone rule it out?

WHAT THEY SAID...

The quickening greens at Muirfield continue to dominate the chat among the players, with Lee Westwood predicting "misery" this afternoon for the remainder of Friday's second round.

Westwood, who is putting exquisitely, shot a 3-under-par 68 to be bunched among the second round leaders. And the 40 year old Englishman, still in search of his first major, predicted a tough afternoon ahead.

"The greens early on were softer compared to yesterday but they are firming up pretty quickly," said Westwood. "You watch the play this afternoon - then you'll see miserable.

"It will get harder. I intend to kickback this afternoon on a couch and watch some struggles."

A dried out Muirfield - and by 3pm today a breeze was getting up - is testing this Open field like no other in recent memory.

"I thought if I come out today and shoot level par, then a score like one-over would be right in contention," said Westwood. "So to shoot three-under is a real bonus. Two-under could be leading at the end of today."

Allegations of unfair pin placements and the rest were dismissed by this affable Englishman.

"It's tough for everybody, so smile your way through it," he added. "It's a major championship - it's supposed to be difficult. One of the defences they have is sticking flags away on slopes and things like that.

"Why not enjoy it? Live with it or go home."

Scotland's Martin Laird is also handily placed, lying four off the lead after shooting a level-par 71. Laird also believes these remaining hours of Friday afternoon will be tough for those going out later.

"It's a tough finish, the last five holes are really, really hard," said Laird. "The greens are fantastic, in fact, the whole course is fantastic. The greens are fast, but they are absolutely perfect.

"There will be an east wind this afternoon, and hopefully these greens are going to get even faster."

ARE OPEN TICKET PRICES FAIR?

Question of the day at The Open - are the ticket prices here a minor scandal?

A number of golf fans have raised this issue, either in complaints here on the ground at Muirfield, or via social media such as Twitter.

One complainant contacted me this morning on Twitter and said: "I was at my first Open in years yesterday. £75 to pay through the gate is obscene. £40 to £50 would be a fairer price."

It is a moot point. Rolling up at the gate for any of the four days of play at Muirfield will cost an adult £75. It is £30 for those aged 16-21. Under-16s go free. Controversially, the R&A have scrapped their previous concession ticket for OAPs.

This morning I went to see Peter Dawson, the ever-embattled R&A chief executive, to hear him out on the issue.

"We keep reviewing the ticket prices for the Open and we try to compare value for money with other major sporting events such as football, cricket, tennis, etc," Dawson said.

"How much do people pay at football? How much for Wimbledon or for the Olympic Games? We actually think that the Open ticket prices stand up against others as very good value indeed. This is, after all, an event involving the best players in the world."

Comparisons with other major sporting events are by definition imprecise, given the range of ticket prices on offer. But there are some prices worth highlighting to put the Open prices in context.

Prices for Wimbledon this summer ranged from £74 to £130. For a Wembley match at last year's Olympics you'd pay from £60 to £125. Even for a match at Hampden during the 2012 Games you'd pay £50 to get in (which few did).

You can pay £50 to watch 90 minutes of an English Premier League football match. At the Open, if you accept the R&A's reasoning, you pay £75 to watch a whole day of golf.

Dawson admitted that the scrapping of the concession ticket at Muirfield would be unpopular, but argued it was the way of it at elite sporting events. On the contrary though, as far as I can glean, concession tickets were available at the London Olympics.

"We took the decision to eliminate the concession price, but that is very much in line with other major sporting events," Dawson said. "We are really just keeping the Open financially sound so that we can re-invest the profits in golf, but also to ensure that we are in about the right place in the market.

"I appreciate that it means a significant hike for concessions, and I'm sure that won't be popular. But it is the way of the world, I'm afraid, at major sporting events."

CALVINISM AT THE OPEN…

It is a strange phenomenon, this…the Scots complaining about the blistering weather here at Muirfield.

Today there is a bit of breeze out on the links, but it is still pretty hot, and dusty in places, too. The sky is cloudless and the ground is parched.

Time and again I've heard Scottish accents - sometimes even my own - breast-beating about the searing heat. It is certainly true that, if you don't have a hat and sun-cream today, the heat can feel oppressive and even headache-inducing.

The plain fact seems to be, the Scots are more used to summers of intermittent wind and rain, and appear to be more attuned to these conditions. For example, if you regularly holiday in Scotland in July or August, anyone with any sense packs wet-weather gear. It is part of the deal.

So here we are, with almost Mediterranean weather beating down upon East Lothian, and some people are complaining. "Don't go out for long," one Scottish pal told me as I brazenly stepped out of the media centre. "It'll kill you out there in that heat…"

I believe this is called Calvinism at The Open, ie, the old Scottish propensity to "complain or feel guilty about good things".

Personally, I hold Peter Dawson responsible for this. In fact, I'm off to see him right now about it.

PS…

Credit to @joebloggscity on Twitter - after my piece above on Calvinism at the Open - who asks: 'Does that mean the winner is already decided then?

WEATHER UPDATE FROM MUIRFIELD…

I'm no meteorologist but it is bloody hot here again at Muirfield. If you're coming, bring a hat and slap on the Factor 30. There is only a mild breeze and, if I understand the BBC weather department correctly, there is to be no sleet or snow later on.

You've been warned. Heatwave to continue...