The Masters Tournament Champion Trevor Immelman rates Royal Birkdale as the hardest course he has faced in all the years he has been trying to win The Open Championship.
Winds have been gusting to 25mph at the course this week and are expected to be even stronger once the event starts on Thursday.
"You want it to be tough because that's going to sort out the best from the best and this is all you want," said the 28 year old Immelman, who claimed his first Major at Augusta National in April and this week takes on The Open for the sixth time.
"It's going to be a great test, especially with the forecast and the guy who wins is going to be very deserving. This media tent is about to blow away."
If that guy is Immelman himself he will emulate the feat of Mark O'Meara, who pulled off the Masters-Open double ten years ago when he won on a play-off at Royal Birkdale.
"That's definitely an inspiration, but it's going to be a pretty tall order,” he added.
"Mark was a seriously accomplished player and had a pretty good record round this course (the American had won the 1987 Lawrence Batley International).
"It's very demanding off the tee because a lot of the drives are partially blind, there's not much intermediary rough and there are a lot of cross-winds."
The conditions are so variable that Ernie Els believes brains will play a bigger role than brawn in determining who wins this week.
The South African, who won The Open at Muirfield in 2002, expects solid ball striking to be essential in the face of typically strong breezes, but he feels patience will win the day.
He said: “It’s very much a mental exercise. You've got to be very patient. A lot of guys are going to make mistakes and you're going to make mistakes yourself and you've got to rebound from that.
“But it’s also physical; I feel you've got to be a strong ball-striker to play in tough weather conditions. You've got to hit the ball solidly.”
Specifically, it is the second shot that Els believes will be critical. He added: “As you can see, the wind is blowing out there so that's going to be a big factor this week. A lot of doglegs on the course. You've got to position your tee shots, and really your second shots are really going to be the scoring club this week.”
If the difficult conditions persist, Els expects his years of experience will pay off. He said: “I've played in all kinds of weather conditions. I played this tournament the first time in '89, and then since '92 I've played every year. So I've seen it in all kinds of conditions, all kinds of golf courses. I'd like to think that experience might help.”
Someone with fewer years but a lot of experience at this event is Spain’s Sergio Garcia. He lost on a play-off to Padraig Harrington at Carnoustie last year but is confident he can justify his status as the bookmakers’ favourite this time round.
He said: “My preparations have been going very well and I'm feeling good. It's going to be tough because it's a difficult course and it's extremely windy but I'm hopeful. I'm in good shape and I think I can win."
Justin Rose is equally confident and not just because of history at this course. It is well documented that ten years ago Rose, a 17 year old amateur, finished fourth. A decade later he is the World Number Nine and ready, in his opinion, to win a Major.
He said: “Obviously ’98 was a magical week. It was a week where I was the underdog, the amateur, I got the crowd behind me. It was a unique situation.
“This week is all about me trusting my game. Going out there with the intent to do it rather than with the hope to do it as I did in ’98.
“I’m not trying to put my chances of winning this tournament in the hands of fate. I just want to prepare hard, play hard and hopefully that’s what does the trick for me rather than just thinking this place is a magical wonderland for me.”
