Jack Nicklaus liked Muirfield so much that he called it the best course in Britain and named his own course in Ohio in its honour.
It has the reputation of being the fairest course of the nine on the Open rota and has produced a list of champions that reads like a who's who of the game, from Sir Henry Cotton to Gary Player, Nicklaus to Lee Trevino, Tom Watson to Nick Faldo and, last but not least, Ernie Els.
But that popularity will be put to the test next week by an extra 158 yards of length since Els won in 2002 and "plenty of rough" that, combined with a strong wind, could have the world's best revising their opinions in a hurry.
New tees have been added on seven of the holes, taking the overall distance of the course from 7,034 yards 11 years ago to a par-71 of 7,192 yards.
The biggest difference is on the ninth where a land swap with neighbours the Renaissance Club has enabled the tee to be moved back almost 50 yards, extending the par five to 554 yards, with a new bunker added on the right of the fairway and bunkers moved closer to the green.
"We are absolutely delighted to be back at Muirfield for the 16th time," said R&A chief executive Peter Dawson. "It's immensely popular with the players. Jack Nicklaus' comment about 'What you see is what you get' at Muirfield was perhaps directed at other links courses with blind shots and where more luck is involved.
"The ground here is relatively flat and every hole seems to be going in a different direction, but we will be setting the golf course up to challenge these golfers."
The 'challenge' of Merion resulted in not a single player under par at the end of last month's US Open Championship, but winner Justin Rose was not complaining and the Englishman has the chance to join an exclusive club at Muirfield.
Bobby Jones (twice), Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Trevino, Watson and Woods are the only men to have won the US Open and Open Championship in the same year, while victory for Rose would also make it three Major wins in succession for 32 year olds after Adam Scott's Masters Tournament triumph.
In contrast, the last two winners of The Open were 42 at the time, Darren Clarke lifting the Claret Jug at Sandwich in 2011 and being succeeded by Els at Royal Lytham.
Els knows that is almost purely down to coincidence, but the South African comes into the defence of his title in good form, having won the BMW International in Munich last week after finishing fourth in the US Open and sixth in the BMW PGA Championship.
A fifth major title and successful defence therefore cannot be ruled out, especially with the likes of Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy struggling for top form and, in Woods' case, fitness.
The World Number One has won four times this season but has not played since the US Open, citing an elbow injury which he could only say would be "good enough" to play at Muirfield, where he was in contention to complete the third leg of the Grand Slam in 2002 only to be blown away by horrendous weather and a third round of 81.
The weather could well turn out to be Muirfield's greatest defence if hard and fast conditions prevail, but whatever happens will be worth watching.
