Aideen Rogers ploughs a lone Irish furrow in what is regarded as the best field ever assembled for the Weetabix Women's British Open which begins at Sunningdale today.

For the first time in its 25-year history the Open will be played as the fourth major in the women's game, which could lead to Rogers rubbing shoulders with the best the game has to offer.

A professional since 1996, it is Rogers' fourth time competing in the event. The first year she played, in 1996, she was five under par and in second place after the first day's play but subsequently fell away. Since then it has been more of a struggle to keep up with the front-runners for the entire weekend.

"Since then I've been going through qualifiers. I haven't made the cut since then in the Open but this season I've had a few good tournaments," she says. "It has been a bit up and down and I've had to make a few changes but when I was out today I was hitting the ball okay. I was keeping it on line and that's important at Sunningdale because there is a lot of heavy rough. There are four par fives you can reach in two. To birdie those would be my plan."

With Sweden's Annika Sorenstam and Australia's Karrie Webb jetting in from their novel made-for-television match with Tiger Woods and David Duval, the competition is assured of low scoring if the weather remains benign.

"If the weather gets worse it would help the European players but always you can be sure the top US players play through anything. I know they'll eat up the course today . . . maybe seven or eight under. It has a lot of run and then those par fives," says Rogers. "But I've nice tee times, which is in my favour so I'll look for a good start, try to get on a roll. I've played with the top players, like (Sofie) Gustafson, before. It's my seventh year on tour so I know what it's like."

The 28-year-old , who broke tradition when appointed assistant professional at Portmarnock, hopes to at least make the cut and enjoy her best Open for five years.