One of the PGA TOUR’s most revered venues not only for its host but the test it presents to the game’s best players, Muirfield Village underwent a thorough renovation immediately following Jon Rahm’s three-stroke win last July.

Starting with the 490-yard par-4 first that has been lengthened by 30 yards, no hole has gone untouched with new professional tees added at two, three, five, six and seven.

There have been new tees also installed at eight, 11 and 15 since Scott finished runner-up at the 2019 tournament and with reconstructed greens, a new bentgrass and all green surrounds resurfaced the practice rounds earlier in the week took on extra significance.

With 11 cuts made from 12 appearances in the tournament and four top-five finishes, Scott was a fan of the facility just the way it was but believes Nicklaus has struck a good balance between scoring opportunities and delivering a sterner test.

“Obviously they’ve made some pretty significant changes and at the moment it’s a bit of mixed emotions because I loved the course how it was,” Scott said ahead of the first round where he will play alongside Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland.

“We’ll see how it plays out this week. There’s some big changes early on in the course. Some of them are quite friendly and some will challenge us for sure.

“I like fast greens generally and that’s always been what they’re trying to achieve here.

“A lot of the tee shots really suit my eye. It’s one of those golf courses that you get to and feel comfortable at and that’s how I feel again this week.”

Two weeks out from the US Open and with the British Open at Royal St George’s on the horizon next month Scott is determined to put in a strong showing this week after a disappointing result at the US PGA Championship at Kiawah Island.

“I got off to a bad start and I was on the back foot,” Scott conceded.

“I played well on Friday but unfortunately the damage was already done. I felt like I played some really good golf there so hopefully I can get four really good rounds in here and go into the US Open with some confidence.

“Certainly then everyone has to make the adjustment to links golf for the Open Championship and that’s a big adjustment.

“An interesting next five or six weeks with a couple of major championships and an adjustment to be made.”