SOUTHPORT, England -- Royal Birkdale Golf Club has often been called the "fairest" test of golf in the Open Championship rotation.
But the 154th Open Championship, which tees off Thursday, might require more strategy and patience from the 156-man field.
Two days before the opening round, the world's greatest golfers were raving Tuesday about the firm and fast conditions, which figures to be quite different from the last Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, when Jordan Spieth won on a wet and soft course in 2017.
"On each hole, there's a good bit of strategy; there's a decent amount of thinking," world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler said.
Temperatures have been unseasonably warm during the past few weeks on England's northwest coast, and forecasts predict little to no rain during each of the four rounds. High temperatures are expected to drop into the low 70s by the weekend.
Scheffler will attempt to become the first back-to-back winner of The Open since Padraig Harrington in 2008-09. He compared Royal Birkdale's current conditions to the 2022 Open Championship at the Old Course at St. Andrews, Scotland.
"This will be a firmer golf course," he said. "This is the first forecast I remember seeing it had no rain in it for the week."
That doesn't mean Royal Birkdale will play as easily as the Old Course, where Cameron Smith won the 150th Open with a 72-hole score of 20 under par.
Scheffler said golfers will have to figure out how to keep their drives in the fairways, many of which are narrower after a 2024 renovation. While Royal Birkdale doesn't have overly undulating fairways like other famous links courses, they are protected by mounding.
"The ball's just going to run for forever pretty much," Scheffler said.
LIV Golf League star Jon Rahm predicted Tuesday that, because of the whipping winds off the Irish Sea, golfers might hit a 6-iron 280 yards on some holes if gusts are behind them.
"It's unprecedented for sure," Rahm said.
Reigning Masters champion Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose suggested that the warm and dry conditions might actually make things easier for some golfers.
"I think the rough is burning out, so there is an opportunity for players if they want to feel like they can sort of hit it over corners and potentially run through and just accept 60 to 80 yards out of the rough, that play is there," Rose said. "So, you might see a varied bunch of strategies."
A few of the greens at Royal Birkdale, particularly ones on new holes like the par-5 14th and par-3 15th, are elevated with steep fall-offs. Deciding whether to go for greens with aerial shots or along the ground creates even more strategy.
"I think ultimately, I feel it's playing like a classic links, where you try to run it up as close as you can to the pot bunkers and play mid- to short irons into the greens," Rose said. "Obviously, you just rely upon good strategic golf and putting to the corners and hopefully making a few putts. That's sort of how I see the course right now."
McIlroy called the firm and fast playing conditions a "double-edged sword."
"I think all this dry weather and sun and a little bit of wind is obviously great for the course in one way, but when I was here a couple weeks ago, the rough was a lot more penal than it's going to be this week," McIlroy said. "It's definitely burnt out a lot."
While avoiding deep fairway bunkers remains paramount, McIlroy suggested that some golfers might take a more aggressive approach and hit driver off the tee to avoid them.
"OK, it might be in the rough, but it's not that penal, so you get a wedge in your hand and you can figure it out from there," McIlroy said.
Even with the changes and conditions, McIlroy believes Royal Birkdale will present golfers with a challenge, much like Shinnecock Hills did during last month's U.S. Open.
"When you give professional golfers options and you can create a little bit of doubt in their minds in terms of should I play this shot or that shot, that's when things start to get fun, especially for the viewer," McIlroy said. "[But] not so much for us."