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Marc Leishman admits his winless record on Australian golf's biggest stage is a gaping hole on his otherwise impressive international resume.

But the frustrating lack of domestic trophies is his motivation to win this week's World Cup of Golf in Melbourne alongside teammate Cameron Smith.

Victorian native Leishman has compiled an impressive overseas career featuring four US PGA Tour victories across America and Malaysia, as well as a European Tour title in South Africa.

He has earned more than $A33 million in prizemoney on the PGA Tour alone and has frequently contended in major championships.

But Leishman has never tasted victory at the Australian Open, PGA Championship or World Cup - having made his debut in 2016 alongside Adam Scott at Kingston Heath.

"I've won all around the world now and some smaller events in Australia," said Leishman, who won the 2008 Victorian PGA Championship.

"But as an Australian golfer, I would say there's a little hole (in the resume); it's something that I would like to change.

"Apart from a major, it's the next thing on the list and something I would love to knock off this week or next (at the PGA Championship)."

The World Cup, which starts on Thursday at Metropolitan Golf Club, will see 28 two-man teams play two rounds of four-ball (best ball) and two days of foursomes (alternate shot).

Leishman admits the unofficial PGA Tour event's $US7 million prize pool is attractive, but pales in comparison to the honour of representing an Australian team - a rare occurrence in golf.

"The money doesn't hurt, but it's not about that at all; it's about the prestige of trying to hold up the trophy," Leishman said.

"Any time you can represent your country is a privilege.

"There were a lot of reasons I wanted to come back (to Australia) but particularly when the golf course is this good, it's pretty hard to say no."

Leishman will have galleries packed full of family and friends making the three-hour drive from his native Warrnambool to Metropolitan.

"I know there's a bus coming down from Warrnambool on the weekend," Leishman said,

"My sister actually is coming down and she's never seen me play in a tournament."

World No.21 Leishman is the highest-ranked player at the World Cup and, combined with world No.33 Smith, the pair are favourites to win.

England duo Tyrrell Hatton and Ian Poulter, as well as Americans Matt Kuchar and Kyle Stanley, are among the tournament heavyweights.

The PGA Tour has announced a six-year deal for an official tournament in Japan from next year, to be sponsored by a company whose CEO has signed up to orbit the moon.

The inaugural $US9.75 million ($A13.38 million) Zozo Championship will be played October 24-27 at Narashino Country Club in Chiba, part of the PGA Tour's three-event Asian swing.

Yusaku Maezawa is CEO of online fashion retailer Zozo. He recently became the first paying passenger to ante up for a moon orbit on Elon Musk's rocket ship.

Back on earth, the Japan tour stop for all intents and purposes replaces the CIMB Classic, which has been scrapped after nine years on the schedule in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

"CIMB is realigning its sponsorship with the tour," the tour said in a press release that raised more questions than it answered on Tuesday.

The Zozo Championship will feature a 78-man field comprised of 60 from the PGA Tour, 10 from the Japan Tour (JGTO) and eight special exemptions, the PGA Tour announced at a press conference in Tokyo.

The event will be co-sanctioned with the Japan Tour. It will fall between the CJ Cup @Nine Bridges in South Korea and the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai.

JGTO president Isao Aoki, the first Japanese player to win on the PGA Tour, said he wondered if he would live to see the day when the American-based organisation planted its flag in Japan.

"I'm 76 years old. Finally this day has come," said Aoki, who won the 1983 Hawaiian Open.

"I wish this day had come earlier. This is a great opportunity to promote the Japan Golf Tour. I'm very emotional about having this big tournament in Japan."

Maezawa's trip around the moon is tentatively scheduled for 2023. He has bought all six seats on the SpaceX Big Falcon Rocket.

Big-hitting Thai golfer Kiradech Aphibarnrat has promised to live up to his reputation as 'Asia's John Daly' and wow fans with booming drives during this week's World Cup of Golf.

Aphibarnrat will partner countryman Prom Meesawat at the $US7 million World Cup at Melbourne's Metropolitan Golf Club, an unofficial US PGA Tour event which sees 28 two-man teams play four-ball (best ball) in rounds one and three and foursomes (alternate shot) on the second and final day.

With a long, looping swing reminiscent of two-time major winner Daly, world No.36 Aphibarnrat has built an impressive career featuring four European Tour victories using a similarly powerful driving game.

The 29-year-old insists he won't be shelving the driver at Metropolitan, despite the iconic Melbourne sand belt course requiring meticulous strategy to avoid punishing areas off the fairways and around the greens.

"That's my game," Aphibarnrat told AAP after a practice round on Tuesday.

"I thrashed my driver on a couple holes today and I'd say I will continue to do that this week.

"It's my first time at the course but it doesn't feel that narrow."

Aphibarnrat says he has developed a level of comfort playing on Australian courses, having won the European Tour-sanctioned Perth Super 6 tournament earlier this year.

"The golf courses in Australia are really unique," Aphibarnrat said.

"Bunkering at Metropolitan is tight around around the greens and when the wind picks up, it's strong.

"I've had a good career here and I really love this country. I come here often and my wife used to study in Melbourne.

"There is a lot of history here, a lot of the great golfers are from Australia."

Aphibarnrat's teammate Meesawat also has a unique nickname, 'Big Dolphin', due to his burly physique and coastal Thai origins.

The world No.488, who plays primarily on the Asian Tour, is inspired to follow in the footsteps of his father Suthep and represent Thailand at a golf World Cup.

Meesawat Snr., now 70, played in the 1982 Cup and was the first local golfer to win the Thailand Open in 1991.

"It will be a very special moment for me to play for Thailand like my father. Any time you can play for Thailand is a special moment," Meesawat said.

Already a winner in the same team format, Cameron Smith is bursting with pride at making his professional debut for Australia at this week's golf World Cup in Melbourne.

Fresh off a third straight top-10 Australian Open finish on Sunday, 25-year-old Smith is preparing to partner Marc Leishman in the World Cup at Metropolitan Golf Club starting Thursday.

"It's so far up there in terms of proud moments in my career that I can't put it into words," said Smith.

"It's pretty cool able to do it as a professional; you just don't get that many opportunities to play for Australia."

The $US7 million World Cup is an unofficial PGA Tour event that has two-man teams from 28 nations facing off in foursomes (alternate shot) in the first and third rounds and four-ball (best ball) in the second and fourth rounds.

Smith's only US PGA Tour victory to date came in the 2017 Zurich Classic in New Orleans - a teams event that used the same format as the World Cup.

The Brisbane native, who last teed up for Australia as an amateur at the 2012 Eisenhower Trophy, says a team environment helps bring out his best golf.

"I like playing for someone else and you combine that with the honour of playing for your country and it just gives you something else to think about for a change, other than yourself," Smith said.

With world No.21 Leishman the best-ranked player at Metropolitan and Smith close behind at No.33, team Australia are the betting favourites to claim a sixth World Cup title.

Australian last won the Cup when former world No.1s Jason Day and Adam Scott combined to lift the trophy at Royal Melbourne in 2013.

But Leishman and Smith will face stiff competition from tournament heavyweights England, whose team will feature Ryder Cup stalwart Ian Poulter and rising star Tyrrell Hatton.

American duo Matt Kuchar and Kyle Stanley also loom as a force, as do defending champions Thorbjorn Olesen and Soren Kjeldsen for Denmark.

Charles Howell III made a 15-foot birdie putt on the second hole of a playoff with Patrick Rodgers on Sunday in the RSM Classic to end an 11-year victory drought.

Howell dropped to his knees and buried his head in his hands, then tearfully embraced wife Heather and children Ansley and Chase - neither of whom were born when he last won on the PGA Tour at Riviera in 2007.

Howell earned $US1,152,000 and a return trip to his hometown of Augusta, Georgia, in April to play in the Masters for the first time since 2012.

"That was the first thing that popped into my head (after making the clinching putt)," Howell said. "Obviously, it means a lot to me being from Augusta but it means a lot to every player, right?

"Every golfer in the world knows what the Masters is so I'm nothing special on that. But that tournament, that atmosphere, just everything ... it's tough at home to sit back and watch that on television."

After Rodgers sent a birdie attempt of 21 feet past the cup on the second extra hole, Howell's putt died in the cup and capped a comeback in which he went bogey-double bogey on his first two holes to lose the lead he had held through the first three rounds.

"The way I started today, I just honestly thought I shot myself in the foot again," Howell said. "I thought that was pretty much over. I had seen this movie before."

Howell closed with a three-under 67, sinking birdies on 15 and 17 to match Rodgers at 19-under 263 in the final PGA Tour event of the year. After making the 36-hole cut on the two-under number, Rodgers shot 61-62 on the weekend.

Howell had a 22-foot birdie attempt on the final hole to win in regulation, but the ball turned away from the cup inches from the edge. Both players had birdie looks on the first playoff hole, with Rodgers missing from 27 feet and Howell from 14 feet off the front fringe.

The 39-year-old Howell also won in 2002 at Kingsmill.

"I fought as hard as I could," said Rodgers, who broke Tigers Woods' scoring record at Stanford and tied his victory record. "I didn't really back down. I stayed aggressive and I made birdies all the way to the finish. It's a testament to how well Charles played."

Webb Simpson (65) had a 12-foot birdie opportunity at the final hole to join the playoff, but missed.

Luke List (65) and Bryan Blaum (66) tied for fourth at 17 under and Tour rookie Cameron Champ, who took the lead after Howell's early stumbles and was in a four-way tie for first with Howell, Rodgers and Simpson with seven holes to play shot 69 and finished alone in sixth at 16 under.

Swedish golfer Johan Kammerstad has entered the history books as the first Australian All Abilities champion.

The four-time European Champion and world No.5 posted rounds of 78, 82 and 73 to claim the inaugural championship at The Lakes in Sydney.

Remarkably, Kammerstad - who has a difference in leg length - beat 25 players from the Australian Open who were playing from the same tees with his final-round score on Sunday.

The one-over par effort included five birdies.

"I'm really pleased," Kammerstad said.

"Of course that was a main goal, to win, but I know the guys are good so I have to be at my best to beat them."

Kammerstad paid tribute to the vision, particularly of Christian Hamilton, that brought the tournament to life.

The event was the first of its kind staged concurrently with a national open, with the players left overwhelmed by the generous support of the Sydney galleries, especially at the par-5 14th on Sunday.

"There were a bunch of guys up there, I hit a 7-iron to a metre and I thought the roof was going to come off," Kammerstad beamed.

"My coach has it on video, so it's going to be fun to watch.

"I don't want to compete again unless it's on these conditions.

"It was very special. I hope it stays the same - it's perfect."

The best-placed Australian in the field was The Lakes' club member Geoff Nicholas, who finished 14 shots back at 31 over for the 54 holes.

Australian PGA Championship officials hope to lure Abraham Ancer to the Gold Coast after the Mexican sensation lit up The Lakes with a stylish Australian Open triumph.

Only golf nuts would have heard of Ancer before his commanding five-stroke victory on Sunday, the biggest winning margin since Jordan Spieth in 2014.

But now he's made a name for himself, officials hope he can grace the fairways of Royal Pines from November 29 to December 2.

Ancer hadn't planned on teeing up at the final event on the 2018 Australian calendar.

But after soaring to No.60 in the world with his win in Sydney, the 27-year-old could clinch a ticket to Augusta National next April with a decent finish at the PGA.

All players inside the top 50 as at December 31 qualify for the 2019 Masters and PGA Championship organisers have not only held a spot for Ancer but have also been in touch with his team.

While admitting to being drained even before next week's World Cup of Golf in Melbourne, where he will partner Roberto Diaz, the first Mexican winner said he'd fallen in love with Australia on his first visit Down Under and would give the PGA some thought.

"I thought about it, maybe not playing this and playing the World Cup and then playing, but it's going to be a lot of golf in a good stretch," Ancer said.

"That would make it like six tournaments in a row and going across the world.

"l'll have to talk about it and think about it now."

Ancer hopes to be a trailblazer for Mexican golf and raise the profile of the sport in the way that former women's world No.1 Lorena Ochoa did now that he's become the first man from his country to win a professional event outside of the Americas.

"I grew up in a border town called Reynosa, which is right there, a border town with Texas," he said.

"All my family is from Reynosa, and my mum and my dad knew a doctor in the US they were really familiar with and just felt comfortable with and I was just born in McAllen, Texas, across the border but I grew up all my life in Mexico.

"A lot of people ask me, 'Do you really feel Mexican?' and I'm like, anyone that knows me knows how Mexican I am.

"That's where I grew up playing the game and I feel like Mexican golf is growing quite a bit lately in tournaments like Mayakoba like I played last week and the WGC in Mexico City are doing huge things for Mexican golf.

"Hopefully, me playing well and winning this event will touch more kids in Mexico and they'll start playing the game.

"Slowly but surely, Mexican golf and also Latin American golf is growing."

SNAPSHOT OF THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN FINAL ROUND AT THE LAKES:

LEADERBOARD: Abraham Ancer (-16), Dimitrios Papadatos (-11), Jake McLeod (-10), Marcus Fraser (-9), John Senden, Matthew Millar, , Keita Nakajima, David Micheluzzi, Cameron Percy (-8), Cameron Smith, Byeong Hun An (-7)

PLAYER OF THE ROUND: Abraham Ancer - completed a commanding five-stroke victory with a three-under 69 to become the first Mexican to win the Stonehaven Cup

SHOT OF THE ROUND: There was no stopping Ancer after his "boomerang" chip-in for birdie on the par-4 fourth hole

QUOTE OF THE ROUND: "My first major, obviously. Unreal. I don't have any words for it. So good." - rising Queenslander Jake McLeod after earning a British Open berth with a final-round six-under-par 66

TOURNAMENT SUMMARY: Ancer joins legends including Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and five-time champion Greg Norman in having his name etched on the Stonehaven Cup, while Aussies Papadatos and McLeod also earned a ticket to next year's British Open at Royal Portrush with top-three finishes. Pre-tournament favourite Cameron Smith closed in style with a 66 for his third straight top-10 Open showing at seven under, while Brendan Steele in a tie for 12th, one stroke further back, was the best of the American US PGA stars. Keegan Bradley and Matt Kuchar both flopped with final-round 75s to finish at four and three under respectively.

Abraham Ancer hopes to emulate the feats of Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy after joining the superstar duo on the Stonehaven Cup with a historic Australian Open triumph at The Lakes.

Ancer streeted the field to become the first Mexican to win the Open after closing with a nerveless 69 on Sunday to finish five shots clear of the field at 16 under.

The 27-year-old etched his name on the famous trophy alongside not only Spieth and McIlroy but legends Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Arnold Palmer and Greg Norman.

"I'm on cloud nine right now. It's been a phenomenal week," Ancer said.

"Obviously I did a little bit of research and the names on this trophy are absolutely incredible - Jack Nicklaus, recently Spieth, McIlroy ... a lot of names that are extremely recognised in the world of golf and I'm really, really happy that my name's going to be there now."

Ancer's winning margin over NSW runner-up Dimitrios Papadatos - who closed with a 67 - was the biggest for an Open at The Lakes and the biggest at any Open since Spieth won the trophy for the first time at The Australian four years ago.

Queenslander Jake McLeod, the winner of last week's NSW Open, rebounded from the disappointment of falling out of contention on Saturday with a brilliant last-round 66 to finish third at 10 under.

McLeod had been leading until being penalised a stroke for waiting too long for what he thought was a birdie putt to drop on the fourth hole of the third round.

Both McLeod and Papadatos joined Ancer in earning a start in next year's British Open at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland with their top-three finishes.

But the day belonged to Ancer, who stylishly converted his five-stroke third-round lead into just his second professional tour win.

His only previous victory came on the secondary Web.com Tour at the 2015 Nova Scotia Open.

Collecting birdies at the fourth, eighth and ninth holes, Ancer was seven clear by the turn and never truly challenged.

The breakthrough will send him to 60th in the world rankings and comes after blowing 54-hole leads twice on the US PGA Tour this year.

His next aim will be to crack the world's top 50 before December 31 to secure a spot in next year's Masters field at Augusta National as he attempts to make his mark at the majors.

McIlroy and Spieth won both two majors the year after winning the Australian Open and Ancer hopes his victory will propel him to similar lofty heights.

Pre-tournament favourite Cameron Smith closed in style with a 66 for his third straight top-10 Open showing at seven under.

Brendan Steele, in a tie for 12th, was one stroke further back and the best of the American US PGA Tour stars.

Keegan Bradley and Matt Kuchar both flopped with final-round 75s to finish at four and three under respectively.

Australia's Brendan Jones has stormed into contention at the Dunlop Phoenix golf tournament in Japan after producing one of Saturday's premier rounds.

Jones climbed up the leaderboard to share of second after a superb six-under 65, which leaves him two strokes off the lead held by Japan's Mikumu Horikawa.

Eagles on seven and 18 plus four birdies enabled Jones to card one of three 65s recorded on the penultimate day.

World No.1 Brooks Koepka has his work cut out if he is to win the tournament for the third year in a row after falling five strokes off the pace.

Horikawa fired seven birdies and just a single bogey in his 65 to move to 12 under for the tournament.

Compatriot Shugo Imahira owned the other 65 to sit alongside Jones.

Koepka started the day three shots off the pace after landing three late birdies on Friday and looked to have ignited his round when he nailed an eagle putt on the par-5 fourth.

The American stalled when he gave back the shots with a double bogey at the next hole, however, and two more birdies over the back nine left him with a 69 to stand in a share of eighth on seven under.

"It was pretty bad," Koepka said.

"I didn't hit very good, didn't putt very good. It's kind of continuation of last two days. I haven't got any momentum. I played poorly.

"I need to play better. If I can put a good round together, I should have myself in contention with nine holes to go. That's the plan."