Defending champion Yani Tseng leads the LPGA money list and is favourite with the bookmakers to win again.
“There is a lot of pressure this week,” said Tseng. “But I love the course. Already, I think it is one of toughest and one of my favourites.
“There are so many ways to approach it. You can be aggressive, you can play safe and you need to be patient and imaginative.”
Tseng said she was disappointed that the 18th, made famous when Frenchman Jean Van de Velde hit into the burn guarding the green and threw away the 1999 Open Championship, was made shorter.
The hole played 499 yards for the men’s Open, but it is just 386 yards for the women. Overall, the course has been cut by around 900 yards to 6,490 yards.
“I was hitting just 80 yards for my second shot at the 18th and it’s totally different (from the men’s Open),” said the 22-year-old world number one from Taiwan.