When the women played here in 2013, the wind was so bad on Saturday that play was eventually canceled. Lewis played 36 on Sunday, which was no picnic, and beat the field with larges doses of brains and grit.

“This week looks horrendous to be honest,” said Lewis, of a forecast that could see winds gusting over 45 mph on Thursday. Lewis thinks that kind of forecast takes about 60 percent of the field out of play.

Slumbers said they’ve slowed down the golf course quite a bit in preparation for the wind. They’ve raised the height cut on the greens and added more water to help them grow a bit.

“We’ve got some pretty good ideas about where we can put the pins to actually protect it as much as we possibly can,” said Slumbers.

“Most importantly, we will set it up in a way that the players can play. The good news is the wind is forecast all four days to come from pretty much the same quadrant, so we can – we know where we can put the pins to give them some room.

“There is a risk that we’ll have delays in play tomorrow, but we’ll deal with that. I think the best players in the world want a bit of a hard challenge. I just hope it doesn’t blow so hard that we can’t play.”