At this time of the Open Championship bunfight, when you've thundered and thrashed away at your keyboard during three days of wearisome build up and previews, words can often fail you.

So you might as well borrow someone else's. That great golf writer Pat Ward Thomas, a celebrated wordsmith from a more genteel era and a connoisseur of all things related to the links, described Muirfield with a considered eye and a flooery phraseology. "It is a punishing kind of perfection," he wrote. "A feature common to Muirfield is that the straight, bold stroke rarely, if ever, is in any way seriously punished. But the timid, the gutless and the wayward rarely escape retribution."

It's a good job this correspondent is not competing.

Ahead of the 142nd playing of this Royal & Ancient game's most decorated and venerated championship, the stage could not be finer. "In my time with the R&A, going back to 2000, this is the best set-up I've seen," gushed Peter Dawson, the chief executive of the R&A. "The factors have come together and it's just as we want it."

Amid all the furore surrounding the increasingly tiresome single sex membership issue, and the frankly ridiculous comparison by some salivating media crusaders that male-only Muirfield is on a par with some kind of ferociously racist organisation, it will be a relief to all when the actual golf gets going.

We've been getting used to fairly dour, drab conditions in recent seasons as Mother Nature turned a blind eye to pleas for something resembling a summer. The wait has been worth it. Muirfield, like a grand old dame that's been lying on a tropical beach, has taken on a slightly different hue. There are no deep green sodden fairways of recent rain-ravaged Opens. Things are becoming golden brown. "Most evenings, we are doing a minimal amount of watering to insure that the golf course stays alive in these conditions," added Dawson. "All we're trying to do is keep a balance between the water content that's being lost during the day and putting a little bit on at night."

The terrain is as firm as a slab of the nearby A198 and, because the local constabulary have a 40mph limit in force on that nearby road, the links will be running a lot quicker than the passing motors. They insist on safe driving on the approaches to the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers and that caution will no doubt be exercised on the course too.

Accuracy will be the watchword, long-irons off the tees are doing the rounds and the heavy artillery of big-headed drivers have, in many cases, been left gathering dust in the bag. Right from the start, this unrelenting links test will ask questions of a glittering field that contains 74 of the top 75 in the world.

The obvious ability to keep the ball on the fairway, and away from the gathering bunkers, will be absolutely key. It's always been the way here, of course. In 1948, when Henry Cotton won his third Open crown, he missed only four fairways in 72 holes. There are plenty of history lessons available in this historic golfing corner. Who will write themselves into the history books this weekend is anybody's guess. The runners and riders are bountiful but, as ever in these contests of wildly fluctuating fortunes, the potential for a dark horse to come charging up on the inside is considerable. We probably say it every year, but the only thing that's predictable is the unpredictability of it all. It's often not worth pontificating over form and trends. Ernie Els had been written off in some quarters because of his putting before he won at Lytham last year. Darren Clarke was a rank outsider when he triumphed at Sandwich the year before. Louis Oosthuizen was not everyone's first tip at St Andrews in 2010 and Tom Watson proved that anything is possible when he almost captured another Claret Jug at the age of 59 at Turnberry in 2009. There's a clamour building again for Justin Rose, the canny Englishman who ended his major drought by conquering a brutal Merion to win the US Open last month. Patience and precision are attributes he possesses in spades and having negoitiated Merion so successfully, a similar, meticulous approach could reap the rewards here. "At Merion, if you missed a shot more than likely you were making bogey," said Rose. "Here at Muirfield, if you miss a shot in the bunkers you're more than likely going to make a bogey, too. My strategy will be built around that and, hopefully, the ball-striking will be able to co-operate."

Not many areas of Rory McIlroy's game have been co-operating this season and, while the Northern Irishman could leap out of the doldrums in a flash, Muirfield is not the place for an unfinished article. Then again, his bad shot has been the driver this season and the world No.2 could benefit from the iron approach. Tiger Woods, who mapped out a majestic path to victory at Hoylake in 2006, should also flourish on this bouncy, bounding stage even though the questions continue to grow with each passing major. It's now 16 since he won the last of his 14. Els, the defending champion and winner at Muirfield 11 years ago, simply relishes the challenge posed here while Phil Mickelson, buoyed by his timely Scottish Open success on Sunday, has the momentum. The quiet achiever Brandt Snedeker, third at Lytham last year, likes to operate under the radar while Graeme McDowell, with three wins to his name this season, and Adam Scott, the Masters winner, both have the craft and competitive instinct of major champions. Branden Grace, runner-up in the Scottish Open, is a mightily impressive South African and could be poised to take his game to a whole new level.

This is well and truly Open season. And that tends to be the wonder of this championship.