West Australian teenager Minjee Lee is one shot behind leader Cheyenne Woods midway through the final round of the Australian Ladies Masters on the Gold Coast.

The 17-year-old amateur made three birdies in a row to be two-under-par after nine holes in her final round and 12-under for the tournament, one behind American Woods.

Lee began the day two shots behind Woods and a bogey on the par-4 2nd wasn’t the ideal start for the two-time Australian Amateur champion.

With defending champion and crowd favourite Karrie Webb not at Royal Pines following her disqualification at the end of the second round, Lee gave local fans something to cheer about with birdies on the par-4 6th, 7th and 8th to storm back into contention.

Her run was capped by a marvellous approach from the fairway on the 8th which stopped inches from the hole and left her with a tap-in for birdie.

Woods, the 23-year-old niece of Tiger Woods, started her round with a birdie on the par-4 1st but a bogey on the par-4 4th handed that shot back.

The world No.363, chasing the biggest win of her professional career, nailed a solid approach from the fairway on the par-5 9th to end her front nine with a birdie and regain the lead.

South Africa’s Stacy Lee Bregman, chasing the first win of her professional career, started the day a shot behind Woods but endured a difficult first nine holes, dropping two shots.

Bregman reached the turn two-over for the day and three shots off the lead tied for third at nine-under with Sweden’s Camilla Lennarth, who reached the turn on even-par for the round.