She followed in the afternoon with a 69 to reach seven-under before the second round was stopped due to darkness.
"I played really good. I played quite a bit of golf," Pettersen told the LPGA website. "Just Steady Eddie, just plugging along, hitting good shots, giving myself chances."
Fifty-six players will have to return to the course on Saturday to complete their second round.
A group of six players trail Pettersen by a stroke including Park In-bee and the 2014 U.S. Women's Open champion Michelle Wie, who was only through eight holes of her round. South Korean Park was at eight-under before bogeying her final two holes to fall to six-under.
French veteran Karine Icher was the first-round leader after shooting a 67 and was also at six-under through 11 holes in her second round.
World number one and defending champion Lydio Ko of New Zealand was at four-under following her second round 70.
Pettersen continued her strong form on the Mission Hills Country Club course where she has seven top 10 finishes.
"How can you not love this place? It's heaven for golf and great surroundings," Pettersen said. "Just really got to be on your A-game to feel like you can attack this course. I'm driving the ball well so I'm giving myself good irons into the greens."
(Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles; editing by Sudipto Ganguly)
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