The American recorded consecutive birdies on the fourth and fifth holes to set up a strong opening round.

A further three birdies on the back nine gave Salas a bogey-free round of 67.

Salas will hope to continue her strong performances at the major, after finishing eighth in 2018 and fifth in 2019.

England's Charley Hull lies second in the leaderboard, after a four-under-par opening round of 68.

Hull's round included six birdies and two bogeys as she ended a shot back. 

American Austin Ernst is one of seven players tied for third place, two shots off the lead.

South Korea's Jeongeun Lee, Sweden's Dani Holmqvist, American Xiyu Lin and Canada's Alena Sharp are also on three-under-par.

They are joined by Jessica Korda, the daughter of retired Czech professional tennis players Petr Korda and Regina Rajchrtová.

Petr was the 1998 Australian Open champion.

Korda's sister Nelly is one shot further back at two-under-par, with the American hoping to build on her victory last week at the Meijer LPGA Classic at Blythefield Country Club in Michigan.

The two siblings could seal places in the US squad for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, with the major serving as the final competition in the qualification period.

Teams will be finalised after the ranking list is published.

A country can have up to four representatives, as long as they are ranked inside the top 15 in the world.

In other cases, only two players from their respective countries are eligible.