Australian golfer Whitney Hillier was one stroke from the lead after opening round of the Ladies European Tour’s Tenerife Open in the Canary Islands.

England’s Trish Johnson credited a red hot putter for her leading round of seven-under-par 65 at Golf Costa Adeje.

The Scottish Open champion fired eight birdies and one bogey in hot and sunny conditions to end the day one stroke clear of Hillier, with Scotland’s Kylie Walker and South African Stacy Lee Bregman a stroke further behind at five under.

After completing her round in windier conditions in the afternoon, Hillier said: “I played well today and the only bogey I made was on three and I made birdie straight after that. It just clicked.

“Obviously it was windy so it was a bit of a grind and I was hitting punch shots all day and just reading the greens really well.

“I’m slowly learning how to deal with pressure so I hope I can finish a lot stronger and have fun.”

Johnson, the 2010 Tenerife champion at Buenavista Golf Club, fired three birdies on the first, fifth and sixth holes.

She dropped a shot on the par-5 eighth but she gave an incredible putting performance with four birdies in a row from the 12th, followed by another birdie on the par-5 18th.

“I can’t really explain it because for the past two weeks I’ve been rubbish and Evian was embarrassing,” said Johnson, who three weeks ago became the LET’s oldest ever winner at the Scottish Open, aged 48.