Tiger Woods has got his competitive edge back, Phil Mickelson has done his homework and Ernie Els believes he is just a couple of putts away from a return to the glory days.
In terms of the world's most talented golfers, the stage for the 135th British Open could scarcely be better set. Even that most unreliable of participants in the annual Open drama, the weather, appears to be co-operating.
With virtually windless, sunny conditions expected to last until Sunday, a birdie blitz is in prospect for the huge crowds expected at Royal Liverpool's first Open Championship since Roberto de Vicenzo won here in 1967.
Opinion is divided as to how well the Hoylake links course, which has been only modestly lengthened and reshaped since de Vicenzo's triumph, will be able to resist the assault from golf's new generation of stars. Although there is a widespread view that the tournament's record low round of 63 could be under threat this week.
With all four-par fives reachable in two for the leading players and a number of short par fours, Hoylake will certainly offer plenty of chances. But the course also knows how to punish the wayward and the over-ambitious - "pure links golf" as Els described it.
"If you get really hot on your putter you can shoot a good number round here. But to do it for four days in a row is going to be tough. There is enough trouble there for the guy who is a little off."
With virtually every hole presenting a tactical dilemma between laying up short, attempting to carry hazards or navigate a way past them, the consensus among the players was that this will not be a contest restricted to the longest hitters. As Padraig Harrington, one of a number of contenders to end Europe's seven-year drought in major tournaments, summed it up: "I'd rather be short and straight than a boomer out there."
Woods, whose focus appears to have returned fully to his game following the death of his father in early May, is among those who believe a round of 62 is a distinct possibility. And he appeared to be relishing the prospect of attacking his own record for the lowest Open winning total against par.
That mark, of 19 under par, was set when Woods won his first Open at St Andrews in 2000. "Obviously it can be done," the defending champion said. "But will it be done is obviously a different story and that, as we all know, depends on the weather." Much may depend on how well Woods himself manages to stay out of trouble off the tees, where he has promised he will be regularly brandishing a 2-iron.
Mickelson also appears to have learned the lesson that less can yield more on this type of course after racking up more hours of practice here than anyone in the entire field.
It is all a very far cry from previous years, when Mickelson has usually played the Scottish Open the week before - on a very different type of course - and then settled for a couple of warm-up rounds at the Open venue itself.
"I haven't had the success in this tournament that I would like, so I felt like I would change it up and spend extra time here trying to learn the nuances of the course," he explained.
Mickelson also believes he has armed himself with a better set of shots to fuel his bid to claim a third major title in a year following his US PGA win last year and US Masters triumph in April.
"It wasn't until 2004 that I really understood the technique of hitting the ball properly into the wind," the left-hander admits. "I was swinging hard like I normally do and I wasn't able to get that low penetrating shot that I can now. I'm not fighting the wind as much and I'm able to control the ball a lot better."
Unlike Mickelson, Els did not need to learn how to play links golf and he was happy to restrict his visits to Hoylake before this week to a couple of helicopter commutes from his home near London.
But the South African had admitted that his confidence needed rebuilding after losing his rhythm on the swing in the aftermath of knee surgery last year. That process, he believes, is now nearing completion. "I feel confident about my abilities again," he said. "I've done the work and now it is only a matter of time before something good happens to me again."