The Australian had a rollercoaster five-under 67 on Thursday to pull  within two of leaders Allisen Corpuz, Jodi Ewart Shadoff and Sei Young Kim, despite making a double bogey on the par-five seventh - her 16th hole.

Lee was piping hot at the start of her round, opening with a birdie and then making five more on the 12th, 13th, 15th, 16th and 18th.

She turned at six-under 30 to charge to the outright lead, before it began to go wrong.    

The three-time major winner found trouble on the second - again a par-five - where she made her first bogey before recovering with birdies on the fifth and ninth.

However, sandwiched between that was the double bogey that deprived her of a tie for the lead. 

Lee is tied fifth with Nelly Korda among others, one behind Miranda Wang (66).

On 64 in a tie for 13th is Hannah Green, who will breathe a sigh of relief after missing the cut in her last four tournaments.

The 2019 Women's PGA champion played steady golf, making five birdies and just one bogey.

Other Australians to enjoy under-par rounds were Robyn Choi (two-under 70) and Evian Championship winner Grace Kim, Cassie Porter and Gabriela Ruffels - all on 71.

Co-leader Corpuz, meanwhile, kept her patience while spinning her wheels for so much of the year.

Corpuz had four birdies on her last six holes, holing a 10-foot birdie putt on the par-4 ninth to catch Kim, who played in calmer conditions in the morning.

Corpuz has only one LPGA victory and it was a big one - the US Women's Open at Pebble Beach two years ago. She had a pair of top 10s early in the year, including a third in the Ford Championship in Phoenix in late March. That was her last top 10.

"Just feel like golf is such a funny game," Corpuz said. "Even if it hasn't been the results that I wanted to see, it's just felt really, really close all season. It was a good start to the season and kind of just feel like things are starting to turn the corner a bit."

Korda switched putters to more of a blade and saw it pay off with seven birdies in her round.

Two stories have been in play all year on the LPGA - 22 consecutive tournaments to start the year with different winners at each one, and Korda not winning any of them. Korda is coming off a seven-win 2024 and only two weeks ago lost the No.1 ranking to Jeeno Thitikul (69).

"Just something new," Korda said, who also went with a different grip on the putter. "I knew I had so much success with that kind of putter and felt confident with it. Just needed to feel something different."

with AAP