Norway’s Suzann Pettersen shot a bogey-free five-under 66 to take the first-round lead on Thursday at the North Texas LPGA Shootout.

Pettersen, who returned to the LPGA Tour last week after missing a month with back problems, had a one-stroke lead over playing partner Cristie Kerr and Michelle Wie, Caroline Masson, Christina Kim, Cydney Clanton and Dori Carter.

Pettersen took sole possession of the lead when she birdied her 16th and 17th holes of the day.

“I feel good. I mean very patient. Just really just trying to enjoy being back,” Pettersen said.

“I got to kind of pace myself a little bit. I can’t do too much early in the week. So I have a lot of spare time to fool around with.

“I really can’t go hit balls on the range. I play whatever I need to play and then just try to give my body a little bit of break.”

Pettersen is playing her second tournament since withdrawing before the Kia Classic in late March, and being told rest was the way to heal her back. The world’s fourth-ranked player tied for 28th in San Francisco last week.

Among the 35 players under par was Juli Inkster, the 53-year-old with eight major victories who shot 69. The last of Inkster’s 31 career victories came in 2006.

Park had four birdies, but the South Korean also had a bogey at the par-5 third hole, and made double bogey at the par-4 15th.

“It was just one of those kind of days,” Park said. “Nothing went really wrong, but just a couple of bad shots that really penalised me today.”