ORDINARILY, a tournament professional's main concern when hitting an approach shot is whether to leave an uphill or a downhill putt.

But The Open is no ordinary event and Muirfield no ordinary course. A competitor's mindset, therefore, has to be completely different. And then some.

Heck, at times in the last three days at these parched East Lothian links, the wisdom of even finishing on the putting surface has been highly debatable. "In the second round the best shot in to the 15th hole was to hit it into the right-hand bunker," revealed Boo Weekley yesterday.

The American added: "You know what? I'll bet there wasn't any sand left in that bunker at the end of the day. Because that is where everybody was hitting it."

How Nicolas Colsaerts, the Belgian who made his debut for Europe in the Ryder Cup at Medinah last year, must wish he had adopted such a gameplan.

Incredibly, he took no fewer than six putts on the treacherous 448-yard par four on Friday on his way to racking up a quintuple-bogey nine. He missed the cut by a shot as a consequence. Such carnage would provoke much sniggering at the 19th hole if it had taken place in the Sunday medal. To see it in golf's most prestigious competition was extraordinary.

It has been no surprise at all, then, that the way the Royal and Ancient have set up the 7192-yard layout in general, and where they have put the hole locations in particular, has been called into question.

Certain sections of the Gullane course have been branded "a joke", "unplayable" and "unfair" by the more vocal members of the 156-strong field this week. And those were the more printable comments. Even Sir Nick Faldo, whose fondness for Muirfield is vast after lifting the Claret Jug here in 1987 and 1992, was taken aback by the severity of several of the pin placements.

"My goodness, it's harsh out there," the Englishman exclaimed. "You can hit good shots and watch them fall off the green and then wander around. I certainly felt it was a shame the way the 15th ended up on Friday. It used to be one of the great holes on the course. It was pretty severe."

Sir Nick, having just surrendered his lead, famously knocked a 5-iron to within inches of the cup at the 15th hole to set up a morale-boosting birdie when he won The Open here in 1992. He anticipates the back nine, with its narrow fairways, penal rough and brick-hard greens, will serve up generous dollops of drama as the tournament reaches its climax this afternoon.

But is the course fair or farcical? Are the derogatory remarks borne of frustration? Or is the criticism more than justified? Weekley, the popular PGA Tour winner, felt his colleagues' assessment of the hallowed stretch of linksland depended on how well or badly they had fared. "The guys hitting it best will say the course is all right while the guys who are struggling will throw their hands up in the air," he said. "Overall, I would say it is fair."

Paul Lawrie, the champion at Carnoustie in 1999, had more reason than most to be frustrated. He slumped to an horrendous 81 on the opening day and was astonished to be back for the weekend. Subsequent rounds of 69 and 70 will have undoubtedly improved his mood. Nevertheless, the Scot, who has extensive experience of and a natural aptitude for seaside golf, had no complaints about the challenge whatsoever. "The course is magnificent," he said. "It is what it is. It is links golf. The ball is going to run and bounce. You just have to adjust and go with it.

"The 15th green on Friday was a little scary and some of the boys were struggling there. But I thought it was playable. A lot of it is down to weather conditions."

The effect the summer sun has had on Muirfield has certainly resulted in some players getting very hot under the collar.