Only time will tell what destiny awaits the 156 players in this, the 133rd British Open. In all likelihood, whoever manages to grasp the claret jug come Sunday evening will have endured hard toil and some trials and tribulations along the way; for to conquer Royal Troon requires a strategy that seems simple, but is difficult to implement.

It involves making good scores early on, to play guardedly but smartly in the middle, and to hang on for dear life coming in.

All of which is easier said than done, especially when Mother Nature has a hand in things. If the wind blows, as it is expected to do, then it will become a severe test of a player's fortitude and his ball-striking.

"I think the most important thing to do," observed Sergio Garcia, "is to commit to whatever shot you pick. If you don't, if you have any doubts, you're going to struggle."

Certainly, this is not the time for indecision in shot-making; nor is it an occasion for anyone with chinks in their swings. As Nick Price put it, "all the guys who've won here over the years have been exceptionally good ball-strikers, but they've also had good short games. That back nine is so demanding that you have to have you're A-Game with you, otherwise you're going to score a big number."

So, who has their A-Game? In the practice rounds, Tiger Woods has looked more like his old self. But practice is a far cry from competition and, so far this season, the world's number one has not fired on all cylinders. Instead, Phil Mickelson has won the US Masters and finished runner-up in the US Open, Retief Goosen followed up his win at Shinnecock Hills with another victory in the European Open, and Ernie Els has finished second at Augusta and tied-ninth in the US Open. These, it would seem, are the real form horses.

Yet, there's also the sense that the overdue European win in a major is as likely to materialise on this piece of links terrain hard by the Firth of Clyde as anywhere else. There's Garcia, with three top-10s in his last three British Opens. There's Darren Clarke, who finished second here to Justin Leonard in 1997.

And, of course, there's Padraig Harrington, currently the leading European - at eighth - in the world rankings and who seems to have got his head around the fact that these days he's a genuine major contender.

Of the six Irish players in the field - he is joined by Clarke, Paul McGinley, Graeme McDowell, Danny Sugrue and Irish amateur champion Brian McElhinney - Harrington, as tends to be his nature, has sent out pessimistic sound bites all week. Yesterday, though, there was a mood shift, and so comfortable was he with the improvement in his neck injury that he even spent longer than he had done on the range. "It should help loosen me up, that with a little bit of adrenalin should help once I get playing," he remarked.

Indeed, Harrington was of the view that the course, although tough, was one where "you don't need to hit the perfect shot all the time . . . sometimes you'd be better off hitting an average shot to miss a piece of trouble. I could see someone like Freddie Jacobson, or Thomas Levet, doing well around here."

Without saying it, he had also included his name in that prediction.

If Harrington had to single-handedly make an Irish challenge at the season's first two majors after Clarke missed the cut in both, at least the back-up this time should be stronger. Clarke, for one, was bullish in the build-up and has tailored his preparations so that he won't be in the least fatigued, mentally or physically, come the time for action. "Hopefully I'll get a spark this week and get going," remarked Clarke.

For others, this is a novel experience. But McDowell, playing in his first major, was - as ever - positive about his prospects. "I'm not a big goal setter but I know what I want," he insisted, "and I want to win it. I want to put myself into a position to see if I can. This is something I've been dreaming about all my life. Somebody is going to win, why not me?"

Whoever does win will have to avoid making mistakes, or at least make fewer than anyone else.

When Leonard won in 1997, he did so by managing to stay out of the bunkers. Royal Troon boasts 93 bunkers, and some of them, like the aptly named "coffin bunker" at the Postage Stamp, the eighth hole, are notoriously difficult to escape. Then, there are also holes where there isn't a single bunker, but where gorse and rough await errant shots.

But the rough is not of the tigerish variety of other British Open courses, and for the most part it will be possible for players to play shots from it.

"Sometimes," said Els, "you have such deep rough that you can only get the ball back out onto the fairway. Here, you can get the ball out, so it makes it more exciting."

The winner is likely to be someone who can grind as well as produce the magic. As Woods put it: "This major presents a different challenge and you know everyone is going to have to deal with it. You're going to hit a good shot and get a bad bounce, or hit a marginal shot and get a great bounce. That's the nature of playing links golf."

In truth, nobody will hear destiny calling until they're coming down the back nine on Sunday; and that's a test that won't be for the faint-hearted.