South Korean Ilhee Lee has taken full advantage of benign conditions on day one of the Women’s Australian Open at Royal Melbourne, carding a five-under-par 68 to hold a one-stroke clubhouse lead.

Lee, 26, got to the turn at one under and then made her move on the back nine with a further four birdies.

She led by a shot from teenaged Thai star Ariya Jutanugarn, who also got to five under before bogeying her last hole on a still, sunny morning on Melbourne’s sandbelt.

Jutanugarn first leapt to prominence when she earned a spot in the 2007 Honda LPGA Thailand at the age of 11, making her the youngest player ever to qualify for an LPGA tournament.

Canada’s Alena Sharp carded a 70 to be tied for third at three-under with Min Lee from Taiwan midway through Thursday’s opening round.

Katherine Kirk and Rebecca Artis were the leading Australians after carding opening rounds of one-under 72.

Karrie Webb began her title defence with a level-par 73.

But fellow Australian Su Oh – the winner of last weekend’s Ladies Masters on the Gold Coast – had a day to forget.

The teenager had her only birdie on her opening hole before slumping to a six-over 79.

The $1.2 million Australian Open is co-sanctioned by the US LPGA Tour and boasts a very strong field including six of the world’s top 12.

World No.1 Lydia Ko from New Zealand began her opening round at 1250 (AEDT).

The other prominent afternoon starters included South Korean world No.7 So Yeon Ryu and Australians Minjee Lee and Stacey Keating.

Lee, 18, won the US LPGA Tour School tournament late last year.