Royal and Ancient chief executive Peter Dawson has dismissed fears the British Open course will be too tough for the players to master.
The 141st Open Championship tees off at Royal Lytham & St Annes on Thursday, and a combination of heavy rain and rough has seen the course come under scrutiny from the competitors, including Tiger Woods.
But Dawson has downplayed the criticism, and also the severity of the claims regarding the links course's playability.
"I think Tiger may have been taken somewhat out of context, given my discussions with him," Dawson said.
"Certainly if you stray a long way off these fairways, the rough is brutal, as it is on every links course in the British Isles at the moment, with the summer weather - if you can call it summer weather - that we've had."
But Dawson did admit that hitting fairways should be a focal point for players, as they would likely find trouble elsewhere.
"The champion on Sunday I doubt will have won from the rough. I think he'll be winning from the short grass, so there's a premium on hitting fairways this week, obviously," he said.
"But if you stray a long way off the fairways, and the fairways are reasonably generous. If you stray a long way off, then you're going to be penalized."
Open Championship committee chairman Jim McArthur said the incessant rain in Lancashire has seen some of their bunkers hold a lot of water, but it has only affected a small percentage of their 200+ sand traps.
"We're not contending to take any bunkers out of play at the moment. There are perhaps half a dozen bunkers where the water is pretty close to the surface there," McArthur said.
"But we are working on them and will continue working on them up to the start of the Championship. And we're hopeful we can cope with whatever the weather throws at us."
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