"I think this is a dream-changer," said the United States Golf Association chief executive Mike Whan.

"I think this really matters to the people playing, but the real impact of this is the girls that are thinking about playing or aren’t really sure what they think about golf."

A second historical element of this year’s event in the California coastline, for which the prize pot is a record $10 million (£8 million/€9 million), including $1.8 millon (£1.4 million/€1.6 million) for the winner, is that it will be the last before retirement for Michelle Wie.

After turning professional shortly before her 16th birthday in 2005, accompanied by an enormous amount of publicity and endorsements, Wie - now 33 - has been a dominant figure in the game, winning the U.S. Open in 2014 at Pinehurst Resort.

The second of five women’s majors events at a venue described by Travel and Leisure as one of the most beautiful courses in the world will see Minjee Lee seeking to defend her title.

The Australian held her nerve to come away with a four-stroke victory at Pine Needles last year.

Rose Zhang, winner of the the 2020 U.S. Women's Amateur and the country's top collegiate player, is likely to feature among the leaders once again, but as much pressure might be on another 20-year-old, China's Ruoning Yin, who claimed last month’s KPMG PGA Championship.

Other names to watch out for include South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim and Jin Young Ko, LPGA Player of the Year in 2021, as well as Thailand’s Atthaya Thitikul, winner of the mixed team gold at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires. 

Ireland’s Leona Maguire, who led the second and third rounds of the most recent major, the women’s PGA Championship, before finishing 11th, four strokes behind the winner, and home player Nelly Korda, the Tokyo 2020 gold medallist returning after injury, are also expected to figure in a big way.