A major championship. A loaded field. A sensational golf course. An historic prize purse. 

All the ingredients are in place for the 2022 US Women's Open to be a classic, as the world's best players head to Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club in North Carolina for the year's biggest tournament.

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A record prize purse of $US10 million ($14 million) is up for grabs, and a pair of Australians are among the hottest chances to come out on top.

It's a tournament not to be missed, and here's everything you need to be ready for the opening tee time.

Who are our Aussie contenders?

Top of the tree is Minjee Lee, one of the in-form players on the planet and a fantastic course fit at Pine Needles.

The 26-year-old is up to number four in the world but is leading the world in this season's points after her first win of 2022 at the Founders Cup earlier this month.

Lee's numbers this season stack up wonderfully — she's second on the official money list, first for scoring average, 10th for greens hit in regulation and fifth for putts-per-green in regulation.

Her putting is a strength, but it's her exquisite iron play that will give her an advantage at Pine Needles — a Donald Ross course that will reward the accurate and the creative on approach.

Those traits will also assist another Aussie contender, as WA's Hannah Green's iron play ranks among the best in the world.

Her year has been slightly less consistent than Lee's, but a second-place finish at the LA Open in April showed her best is good enough to have her competing at the top end.

A lot will hinge on Green's putting this week, as she is likely to give herself plenty of opportunities to score with her approach play. If she can have a hot week with the flat stick, a second major triumph could be a possibility.

Sarah Kemp, Grace Kim and Gabi Ruffels complete the Australian contingent and are all hunting their first major victories.

Who are the other favourites?

South Korea's Jin Young Ko is world number one for a reason and is enjoying a remarkable 12 months.

Ko, still only 26, has two major victories to her name already but none since the 2019 Evian Championship.

There is also excitement for the return of American Nelly Korda, who only nine months ago looked destined to take over the world.

Korda has been out of action since March after she was found to have a blood clot, but the US Open will mark her first tournament back. The game has been poorer without this superstar in action.

And you can bet Australians will be quick to claim Lydia Ko if New Zealand's finest makes a charge on Sunday.

Incredibly still only 25, Ko has been climbing back up the world rankings over the last 12 months after seeing her career stall a little in the years immediately after her insane teenage breakthrough on the LPGA tour.

Lydia Ko finds herself in a marquee grouping with Hannah Green and Nelly's sister Jessica Korda for the first two days, so that will certainly be one to follow.

Who else should I keep an eye out for?

Annika Sörenstam is in the field, and that's always worth getting excited about.

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Arguably the GOAT of the women's game, Sörenstam has only played the odd event here and there since her retirement in 2008 — though she did win the US Senior Women's Open last year.

At the complete other end of the spectrum, we have 19-year-old American Rose Zhang, who is the number one amateur in the world and a star on the rise.

Zhang is fresh from winning the individual NCAA title and leading Stanford to the NCAA team championship. It's a name you should remember, so this US Open might be the perfect time to hop on the bandwagon.

Shout out to Lexi Thompson too, who is still the sixth-ranked player in the world but has some serious unfinished business at this tournament.

At last year's US Open, Thompson had a five-shot lead with 10 holes to play before absolutely imploding on the back nine, finishing with a final-round 75 that played her out of the playoff that was eventually won by Yuka Saso.

The tournament begins late on Thursday night AEST and a winner will be crowned on Monday morning.