Perth teenager Minjee Lee, the world’s leading amateur golfer, is one stroke off the lead after the opening round of the World Ladies Championship in China.

World No.2 Suzann Pettersen leads after a six-under-par 67 on the Blackstone Course at Mission Hills, Haikou.

The two-time Major winner won the event last year on the Sandbelt Trails Course at the same resort.

“I played a lot of good golf today and felt like I had a lot of great chances. I feel like you’ve really got to take advantage of the par fives out here,” said Pettersen, who had an eagle and three birdies on the five par fives.

“You only have some mid irons into some of them and I had one eagle, should have had two. I missed a very short eagle putt on six, so overall it was a pretty solid start.”

Lee, who won the Victoria Open 10 days ago, tied with South Korean Chung Ye Na on five-under-par 68 to be a stroke behind Pettersen.

The 17-year-old Lee – born in Perth to Korean parents – showed she has the talent to mix with the best as she reeled off seven birdies and two bogeys.

She finished the day one ahead of Trish Johnson, Valentine Derrey and playing partners Gwladys Nocera and Inbee Park.

World No.1 Park, the runner-up in the 2013 event, fired three birdies and an eagle against one bogey.

However, she couldn’t catch Lee, who said: “It feels good to be up there but it’s only the first round so anything can happen. I’m in a good position and I don’t feel like I’m out of place. I feel like I can play with the pros and it was pretty cool playing with Inbee.”