156 players started out.

Only three are left "in the red" of under-par. And any one of probably eight will win it.

The 142nd Open at Muirfield has been gripping, gruelling and controversial for three days. Now we reach the sharp end of the deal. Sunday's final round looms and some big names are vying.

Lee Westwood, the man with no majors to his name, leads by two strokes to Tiger Woods, the man who already owns 14. Hunter Mahan is also two shots back, with Adam Scott and Henrik Stenson three behind on level-par.

Here's the question: can Westwood finally pull off a big one, after 17 years of trying? We know that Woods can - that's not at dispute. But can Westwood?

In those 17 years Westwood has had 15 top-10 finishes in majors, including a 4th, a tied-3rd and a 2nd in previous Opens. Everyone knows he has the game.

But, if these things can be broken down like individual atoms, people wonder if he has the focus, the mentality, the resolve to land a big one over four days.

Westwood said this evening that he was ready for the challenge ahead.

"I don't feel I'm in a high pressure situation," he said. "I'm going to go and have dinner and I'm sure I'll think about winning the Open Championship at some stage tonight.

"I don't think there's anything wrong in that: picturing yourself holding the claret jug with your name on top of the leaderboard. But when I tee off tomorrow I'll be in the same frame of mind I was today. I felt no pressure out there, I felt nice and calm and in control of what I was doing."

Asked about the many previous majors that had got away from him, Westwood said: "I've had lots of chances - sometimes I've played well, other times I've not played so well.

"I can't remember any where I've played poorly. I had a chance at Turnberry in 2009 which I maybe messed up a bit. But I'll go out there and play tomorrow, and won't worry too much about what other people are doing.

"Even though I don't yet have a major, I know what it takes to win one. It's a question of going out tomorrow and having confidence in my own game, which I've got."

Woods has nothing to prove to anyone, but is surely irked by one thing. He hasn't won an Open Championship in seven years, nor any major since his US Open win in 2008. Going back in time, if we could, few would have believed this would become the Woods track-record looking ahead from those rich, prodigious years.

Tomorrow at Muirfield cannot come soon enough for some of us.

THE HUNTER...

Hunter Mahan, the likeable American, was very refreshing when he came into the Open media centre 15 minutes ago.

Mahan had just fired a 68 to put himself within a shot of the lead behind Lee Westwood and Tiger Woods as the leaderboard stood at 6.45pm this evening.

Given the mumping and moaning about the Muirfield set-up this week, how was this for a different perspective…

"The course is strenuous and it is fair," said Mahan. "I like it a lot. The course is US Open-ish in terms of its definition of fairways.

"What I mean is, it's all out there in front of you. It's a great test, it's very fair, there's nothing tricky about it."

Nothing tricky about it? Have to say, this was a new line.

Mahan, of course, was the man who lost in the crucial singles match to Graeme McDowell in the 2010 Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor.

Asked if winning here would offer him any kind of redemption for that, Mahan replied: "No. I don't need any redemption. I don't play golf for redemption or revenge or anything like that. I'm only playing here for the challenge of winning a major, that's all."

Meanwhile, in an unusual Open twist, Japan's Hideki Matsuyama was this evening given a one-stroke penalty for slow play on the 17th hole, which turned his 5 into a 6 on his card.

Matsuyama's two-ball had fallen 15 minutes behind schedule, and was well behind the group ahead, when the clock was put on them on the 15th hole. The Japanese player was twice timed to be too slow over shots and was finally penalised on 17.

The joint-best round of the day so far at Muirfield belongs to Sergio Garcia…the golfer who loves the Open, always plays well in it, but apparently cannot win it.

Garcia shot a three-under-par 68, though he had preceded that with rounds of 75 and 73 on Thursday and Friday. As I write this at 5.30pm he is five back from the leaders…might he still have a chance tomorrow?

The Spaniard's Open record is impressive - though it sorely lacks an outright win. Garcia has posted seven top-10 finishes in this tournament, but more than once has stood accused of seriously blowing it, such as at Carnoustie in 2007, where he held a three-shot lead going into the final round.

Barring a minor miracle tomorrow, Garcia won't win this one either, though his game today was highly impressive.

"I've always said it - as an individual tournament, this is my favourite," Garcia said. "It would be a nice one to win one day."

It was Garcia who infamously - or perhaps brutally honestly - said last year of his attempts to win a major: "I'm not good enough…I don't have the thing I need to have [to win]. I've come to the conclusion I need to play for second or third place."

These words might almost become a self-fulfilling prophecy for Garcia, as this week is proving yet again.

A MARTIN LAIRD CALAMITY...

I've just watched Martin Laird try to play Muirfield's par-4 third hole in minor agony…for me, never mind for him.

If you wanted to know the perils of getting mired in Muirfield's strawy stuff off the tee, this was the moment to witness it.

Laird racked up a 9 on the hole, which involved two lunges at the ball (scarcely moving it), two drops under penalty, finally getting onto the green in 7, and two-putting.

The Scot was just one off the lead at 3.40 this afternoon prior to playing this hole. By 4pm he had fallen back to three-over and T17 in the championship.

The phrase "irreparable damage" springs to mind.

TO LONDON AND BACK...

If you thought Paul Lawrie's mad dash to Aberdeen and back was bad after the Open cut went back to eight-over, wait til you hear what happened to the well travelled Thongchai Jaidee…

The Thai had shot rounds of 79 and 71 and was convinced on Friday afternoon that, like Lawrie on eight over par, there was no way he would be playing on the weekend.

Thongchai, having been on the road for seven weeks, quickly got his bags packed and flew Friday afternoon from Edinburgh to London, and was then put on standby for an overnight flight to Bangkok.

Then his manager called him at 7.30pm and said the Open cut might go to eight-over, and that he would still be in the tournament.

"Luckily I was on the standby for the Bangkok flight and my bags hadn't been checked in yet," said Thongchai, who then managed to get on a flight back to Edinburgh, where he arrived at midnight last night and checked in to an airport hotel.

A courtesy car picked the player up at 7am this morning, and he was back on the course for round three at 9.10, where he teed-off and shot a highly commendable 71.

The thing is, having vacated his original hotel room, Thongchai is now searching for a new place to rest his head tonight…back in East Lothian.

GO HOME, WALK THE DOG, COME BACK AGAIN...

Well done Paul Lawrie - after a pretty amazing 24 hours.

You might have read of Lawrie's woes. After shooting rounds of 81 and 69 the former Open champion never thought he'd make the cut at eight-over-par and jumped in his car yesterday afternoon and drove home to Aberdeen. Lawrie arrived at his house at 5pm.

After pottering about in his garage and taking Bobo, his West Highland terrier, for a walk, Lawrie was alerted by various text messages that, in fact, the cut would be at eight-over and that he would be playing on the weekend.

So he promptly got back in his car at 8.30pm and drove back down to East Lothian for two more days of golf, arriving back at 11.20pm last night. This morning Lawrie shot a third-round 70.

"I just couldn't see eight-over making it, but it shows you how tough the course is," he said. "I've never had to do something like that before - thankfully I live just up the road."

Lawrie's woes continue with something he was once in love with (and it was a mutual love)...his putter.

"Today I played beautifully, just as I did on Friday. But I struggled a bit with my putter today - I should have shot quite a few less."

OPEN PRICING…

On yesterday's blog I relayed a few complaints to Peter Dawson, the R&A chief executive, about the ticket pricing for this year's Open.

It is £75 for adults at the gate for a day ticket, £30 for those aged 16-21. Quite a few golf fans have voiced their dissent.

On the other hand, others tweeted me (@GrahamSpiers) to point out that, at various elite events such as Wimbledon, the Ashes and major football matches, a £75 Open ticket stood up reasonably well in terms of value.

Today the golf writer, Alistair Tait, has tweeted: "I paid 57 quid per ticket to take my daughter to see Arsenal play Fulham this year. For only 90 minutes."

Once more, in this context, maybe £75 for a day at the Open is not such a bad deal. But this debate is a moveable feast: for many families, with tight budgeting, the idea of forking out such a sum for a day out at the golf is simply out of the question.

In this context, figures have just been released about Open attendances over the past two days, and they don't make happy reading for the R&A.

The attendance for Thursday's opening round was 23,393 - well down on the 30,620 which attended the opening round at Muirfield in 2002.

Crowds for yesterday came in at 29,144 - a decent figure, but again, down on the 34,479 which came on the same day in 2002.

Why the decline? It certainly cannot be due to the weather. It seems to be a mix of the current economic downturn, and quibbles at the prices set for this 2013 championship.

Plus, of course, the complete abolition of the concession/OAP ticket.

THE DEBATE CONTINUES...

It is another vintage scene here at Muirfield for Open Saturday: a cloudless sky at midday, a few breezes, and the course still looking brown and burned-up.

Only nine players of 156 starters were under par after two rounds, which tells its own story. Miguel Angel Jimenez leads on three-under, followed by a bunch of chasers: Henrik Stenson, Lee Westwood, Tiger Woods and Dustin Johnson among them.

Scotland's Martin Laird, who goes off today with Johnson at 3pm, is just two off the lead.

But the question remains: has this 2013 Open been an unfair test? And the jury - made up of the world's best golfers - are throwing up all sorts of pointed opinions on the subject.

Ian Poulter and Phil Mickelson were among those who had made scathing comments about the Muirfield set-up. But after the second yesterday, on softer greens, some of these comments were being retracted.

"When I made those comments about a few sketchy pin placements it was not fair of me," Mickelson said. "The set-up has been great. The fairway width is fair and the rough is challenging and difficult, but it's not over the top. I think, if you're playing well here, you can make up some ground. But this is definitely one of the most difficult tests we've had."

That, to most, seemed in part an apology from Mickelson to the R&A for comments he made on Thursday. But then we heard from Brandt Snedeker, who has shot 68 and 79, and who still seemed to hint that the course was on the cusp of unfair.

"I don't know what we are supposed to do to hit a green," Snedeker said. "There is no way to control it.

"I don't know if it is fair or not - we all have to play the same golf course. But they need to put some water on the course - everything is dead. You can slip sometimes out there, you can't stand up. It's just really, really firm.

"It's not like it's unplayable - some guys have survived it. I guess if you want to play in a major you have to deal with this."

And then came Ernie Els, who is openly struggling with his game, and who perfectly summed up what this 2013 championship is all about.

"It's a links golf course," said Els. "It's what you're gonna get. It's firm, it's brown, the ball is bouncing all over the place. It's tough to control your ball. It's a tough battle out there.

"I'm getting nothing out of it - I'm very frustrated. I made two bogeys out there from the middle of the bloody fairway. It's really tough.

"I think there are two greens - 14 and 15 - that are not very playable. I think these two greens are getting out of hand. I'm not saying they are unplayable but they are borderline…"

Tom Lehman said that, in order to survive this 142nd Open, "you have to be unflappable". I have to say, I'm not sure that has been entirely the case with a load of player we have spoken to over the past few days.

Day Three is looming…and it is one to savour.