Troon is not a place to set pulses racing. "What do I do?" a bemused Tom Weiskopf pleaded with a friend back in 1973. "I don't like the course - I can't figure it out." "Then go right out and kill it," came the reply. When play begins this morning in the 126th British Open over the Ayrshire links, one suspects quite a few of the leading challengers will be thinking that way.

Weiskopf conquered Troon without ever coming to like it. And the over-riding feeling from the world's top players since they arrived here last weekend has been of respect rather than admiration.

Probably no other "major" in recent years has promised so much. It is being defended by a splendid champion in Tom Lehman, who happens to be at the peak of his powers. And he faces the might of top contemporaries, among them the irrepressible Tiger Woods, in a rich vein of form at this time.

The field of 156 competitors also includes five Irishmen. Through their marvellous exploits of last season, Darren Clarke, Paul McGinley and Padraig Harrington earned exemptions, while Brendan McGovern and Gary Murphy came through final qualifying last weekend.

Clarke had a final practice round with local expert Colin Montgomerie at 7.0 a.m. yesterday. "Monty has been a great help, particularly in pointing out the right lines off the tee," he said. "All in all, I feel very confident about my chances."

The other Irish challengers went off together in a four-ball at lunchtime. "It will be difficult to improve on last year," remarked McGinley, recalling a course-record equalling second round of 65 at Royal Lytham, to share the halfway lead with Lehman.

The Dubliner, who can claim to have led the US Open on his own - after five holes of the first round at Congressional last month - went on: "I'm much more at ease than I was 12 months ago. And after struggling with my game in recent months, I feel I'm now getting it back after a few sessions with Bob Torrance."

Murphy limited his Tuesday practice to nine holes because of a strained neck, but felt considerably better after physiotherapy. "My game's in pretty good shape and I'm really looking forward to the week," he said.

For McGovern, the most difficult aspect of competing at this level is coping with the pace of the greens. So, he has reverted to a blade-type putter like the one he used at the start of his career. "The ball comes off it more softly," he explained.

The Headfort club professional will also draw heavily on links experience of Portmarnock, where he was an assistant to Peter Townsend. "Portmarnock is the ultimate links challenge as far as I'm concerned," he said. "And yet, some of the blind shots here remind me of Royal Co Down."

"Troon starts here," proclaimed Lehman while standing on top of a high sandhill at the seventh tee. "From here on, it's a great course." More specifically, the opening stretch is where competitors will be hoping to get some strokes in reserve, in preparation for an unremitting homeward stretch, starting ominously with four par fours, ranging from 431 to 465 yards.

When Arnold Palmer complained about the way he was playing prior to his triumph here in 1962, American colleague Sam Snead said dismissively: "There ain't nothing wrong with him that a two-stroke lead won't fix. He's just trying to sweet-talk that tough old course into lyin' down and playin' dead."

For Woods, however, one suspects he has raw power rather than sweet-talk in mind as his strategy for a first British Open challenge as a professional. Jack Nicklaus said of the 21-year-old's chances: "It's not often you see a sportsman exceed expectations like he has done. He's simply a phenomenal young man."

Meanwhile, Montgomerie, rather than Nick Faldo, is being touted as the main home hope, to compensate for the disappointment of a US Open defeat by Ernie Els last month. But the Scot's British Open record is decidedly poor: he failed to qualify for the 1989 Open here and went on to miss four cuts in seven subsequent attempts.

All of which prompted the self-deprecating assessment of his prospects: "The best result I've had in Troon was to marry my wife at the parish church in 1990." Deep down, however, the recently-crowned Irish Open champion will be aware of a high level of expectation at a venue where his father, James, is the long-serving secretary/manager.

A low ball-flight will be a distinct advantage if the wind persists at yesterday's strength. An accomplished professional can achieve this, however, by the simple adjustment of placing the ball further back in the stance and making a shallower take-away - the sort of thing that Christy O'Connor Snr did instinctively in the wind.

Els possesses that level of talent. "I think a pretty high score will win this championship if conditions stay the way they are right now," he said yesterday. "The course is playing really long and the rough is up, particularly on the back nine. So, I think it's going to take a lot of patience and a lot of courage."

It was as if he were articulating his golfing CV. But the South African, who is bidding for a double last achieved by Tom Watson in 1982, sometimes appears to lack motivation. Indeed, by his admission, it was only while completing his third round early on Sunday morning at Congressional that he suddenly realised he could win the US Open.

From a European standpoint, I like the prospects of Jose-Maria Olazabal, who has missed only two cuts in 12 Opens and was third behind Faldo at Muirfield in 1992. Clarke also has the game to do really well here, on terrain that should be second-nature to him.

But there is no doubting the current supremacy of the Americans. Even their lesser challengers include such gifted practitioners as Davis Love, Jim Furyk, Lee Janzen, Justin Leonard and Phil Mickelson. And it is clearly possible that a champion could emerge from the pack, as Mark Calcavecchia did in 1989.

In the meantime, all eyes will be on Woods and his attempt at justifying favouritism of 6 to 1 - odds that have been unheard of since the halcyon days of Nicklaus and Watson.

Woods claimed this week that he loves links golf because it requires imagination. The question was put to Watson yesterday: "Is Tiger too young to be thinking that way?" And the reply from the five-time British Open winner was: "Is he too young to have won the Masters by 12 shots?"

The Kerry device of answering a question with a question could be attributed to Watson's sojourn in Ballybunion last week. Or it could be that he was gently pointing us towards a player eminently capable of achieving comparable dominance of this event.

Either way, Woods is likely to be a worthy favourite in every major championship he enters for the foreseeable future. Even on a wild and bleak golfing stretch that no one seems to be quite sure about.