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SNAPSHOT OF THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN THIRD ROUND AT THE LAKES:

LEADERBOARD: Abraham Ancer (-13), Keita Nakajima (-8), Marcus Fraser, Keegan Bradley (-7), Aaron Pike, Dimitrios Papadatos, Matt Kucher (-6)

PLAYER OF THE ROUND: Abraham Ancer - the US PGA Tour star is a hot favourite to become the first Mexican to win the Stonehaven Cup after a brilliant seven-under-par 65

SHOT OF THE ROUND: Aaron Pike's hole-out eagle two on the par-4 third sparked a blitz of seven under par for his first seven holes

QUOTE OF THE ROUND: "(A) rules official came up and wanted to talk to me about it on the eighth tee or whatever, which probably wasn't the right time to come up to me and talk to me about it, and then told me it's the one-shot penalty. So I probably would have preferred if it was after the round." - Jake McLeod after being docked while in the lead for waiting too long for a birdie putt to drop into the fourth hole

TOURNAMENT SUMMARY: The Open is Ancer's to lose after streeting the field with nine birdies in Saturday's dazzling display.

Mexican birdie machine Abraham Ancer has played the round of his life to burst from the pack and seize command of the Australian Open after a drama-charged third round in Sydney.

No less than eight players topped the leaderboard at various stages on Saturday on the windswept Lakes layout.

But it was Ancer who had all the answers in a brilliant, equal-tournament-best seven-under-par 65 that rocketed him five shots clear of the field at 13 under for the championship.

The 27-year-old rated his round the best of his career - "given the conditions".

"It was a tough round. I knew it was going to blow all day so I had to stay patient," Ancer said.

"It was a very challenging round but everything went my way and, whenever something didn't go my way, I managed to make at most a bogey which, out here, was pretty good."

Japanese amateur Keita Nakajima is Ancer's closest pursuer at eight under after a steady round of 70 soured by a bogey on the last.

Marcus Fraser - the winding-back veteran who proposed scrapping Open prize money pre-tournament - returned a 71 to be a further shot back in a tie for third with American star Keegan Bradley (71).

Bradley's fellow American Matt Kuchar three-putted the last in a 73 to fall to six under, alongside Australian trio Aaron Pike (67), Cameron Percy (72) and Dimitrios Papadatos (71).

Bidding to become the first Mexican to claim the Stonehaven Cup, Ancer assumed control with five-successive birdies from the sixth to 10th holes as his rivals unravelled.

No one imploded worse than joint halfway leaders Max McCardle and Byeong Hun An.

McCardle opened both nines with dreaded double bogeys in a three-over 75 that left the former mechanic and Adelaide airport worker at five under and eight shots adrift of the runaway leader.

And after lighting up the Lakes on Friday with a hole in one, An was unable to find any such magic on Saturday, a double-bogey six on the 13th after needing three chips to find the green the low point in a horror round of 76.

The South Korean will start Sunday's final round nine shots off the pace.

Defending champion Cameron Davis, having fired the third-best round of the day, a four-under 68, to drag himself into red figures for the first time all tournament, is 10 back.

After reeling in Jason Day from six behind last year at The Australian, Davis will need a golfing miracle on Sunday to catch Ancer, who had rattled off nine birdies in all on a moving day not lacking controversy either.

Rising Queenslander Jake McLeod thought he'd captured the outright lead on the fourth hole, only for last week's NSW Open winner to be penalised one stroke for waiting too long for his birdie putt to drop.

Officials deemed McLeod had waited 15 seconds for the ball to drop into the cup, when players are permitted only 10 seconds.

The 24-year-old remonstrated with rules officials after being docked a shot - and thus recording a par - claiming the ball was still moving.

He collapsed to four under par for the Open after a three-over 75.

Minjee Lee's chances of collecting a LPGA Tour bonus have suffered a setback after the second round of the CME Group Tour Championship.

Lee slipped to a share of 43rd place in the season finale after a three-over par 75 on Friday.

Her round included four bogeys on her inward nine for a one-over par tournament halfway score that puts the 22-year-old Perth prodigy 13 shots off the lead.

In second place in the season-long points race going into the Florida tournament, Lee was best placed to challenge Thai star Ariya Jutanugarn for the Race to the CME Globe title.

World No. 1 Jutanugarn is now in control of that again and is back atop the projected standings after shaking off a bogey-bogey-bogey start to finish with a 71 and get to three-under.

Lee has a projected third-placed finish as one of five players most likely to claim a $US1 million ($A1.4 million) bonus.

Lexi Thompson, still winless this year, shot a five-under 67 on Friday to move to 12 under for the week, three shots clear of first-round leader Amy Olson (72) and Brittany Lincicome (71).

Cameron Smith has vowed to fight his way back in to Australian Open contention after admitting he put added pressure on himself in the absence of big guns Jason Day and Adam Scott.

With homegrown former world No.1s Day and Scott, as well as world No.19 Marc Leishman, notable absentees at The Lakes, Smith is the highest-ranked Australian in the field.

But Smith opened with a two-over-par 74 before a 71 in Friday's second round allowed Smith to make the cut by one shot and he will begin the third round nine shots off leaders Byeong Hun An (69) and Max McCardle (66) at eight under.

World No.33 Smith says he felt a duty to lift his game this week.

"I guess I did put a little added pressure on myself, which probably wasn't necessary," Smith told AAP.

"Everyone knows how much I want to win this tournament and I bummed myself out a little by trying too hard, rather than just relaxing and knowing what I can do."

The Queenslander believes he should have stuck to a proven formula that saw him finish fourth last year and second to Jordan Spieth in 2016.

"Most of the times I come back to Australia, I play some good golf courses and catch up with friends and family and have a lot of fun," Smith said.

"Throughout my whole career, even in the US, I always play my best golf when I've had fun on and off the golf course so probably a lesson learned the first round this week."

However, 2017 Australian PGA Championship winner Smith is refusing to rule himself out of Open contention.

Smith is confident of making a leaderboard charge on moving day.

"We'll get fresh greens and hopefully I can go out there and shoot a good score and get myself back in it," he said.

Argentine Emiliano Grillo grabbed the halfway lead as two-time defending champion Brooks Koepka rallied late to stay within striking distance at the midway point of the Dunlop Phoenix golf tournament in Japan.

Grillo shone in gloomy conditions on Friday, shooting a second consecutive four-under 67 at Phoenix Country Club in the southern city of Miyazaki.

The 26-year-old posted an eight-under 134 for the tournament, one stroke better than Japan's Yuki Inamori (68) after 36 holes of the Japan Golf Tour event.

Koepka (68) treaded water for much of the day, before vaulting within three shots of the lead thanks to consecutive birdies on the final three holes.

First round leader Koumei Oda, however, had a day to forget as he plunged five shots behind after a 73.

Leader Grillo, the world No.48, has been in good form recently, tying for second at the PGA Tour CIMB Classic in Kuala Lumpur last month, before tying for 14th at the WGC-HSBC Champions event in Shanghai two weeks later.

Australia's contingent was spearheaded by Lee Won Joon, who racked up eighth birdies in a fluctuating four-under 67 to sit alongside Koepka in a tie for seventh at five under.

Brendan Jones and Brad Kennedy were four and three under respectively while David Bransdon also made the cut at even par for the tournament.

South Korea's Byeong Hun An has sensationally reclaimed the Australian Open lead with a hole-in-one late in his second round.

Starting Friday with the lead at The Lakes, An watched as American Matt Kuchar and Australian amateur David Micheluzzi entered the clubhouse at seven under par after playing in the morning wave.

But An shot back to the top of the leaderboard with an ace at the 197m par-3 15th that rocketed the former US Amateur champion to eight under.

"Hit it good, nice fading back to the hole and went in. This is my third one but first with a prize," the smiling Korean said after earning himself a $17,000 Swiss watch.

"It was a soft seven iron. I didn't even know the distance. My caddie just said to hit seven iron and take five (metres) off."

Earlier, world No.29 Kuchar lived up to his billing as the highest-ranked player in the field by taking the clubhouse lead.

Kuchar fired a five-under 67 and was joined atop the leaderboard shortly after by Micheluzzi (69) and last week's NSW Open winner, Jake McLeod (67), in the afternoon.

An had the final say, though, ensuring he would enter the weekend in front following his spectacular late heroics.

Fellow tournament drawcard and world No.30 Keegan Bradley returned an impressive 66 to sit a shot back at six under, sharing fifth with a bunch of players including Jordan Zunic (65), Cameron Percy (69), Marcus Fraser (69), Matt Jager (70) and Mexican Abraham Ancer (69).

Micheluzzi is bidding to become the first amateur to win the Stonehaven Cup since Aaron Baddeley in 1999 and jumped out of the gates on Friday with three birdies and an eagle in his first six holes.

Although the 22-year-old suffered three consecutive bogeys around the turn, he responded with a birdie at the third (his 12th).

Cameron Davis's eventful defence of the Stonehaven Cup, meanwhile, has continued.

After opening his first round with a quadruple eight on the way to a four-over 76, Davis dunked two more balls in the water on the par-5 11th to rack up a disastrous triple bogey on his second hole on Friday morning.

But the 23-year-old bounced back superbly with successive birdies then an eagle on the par-5 14th.

Davis then went two under on his closing nine to card an impressive 69, which brings his open total back to one over and he sits inside the projected cut line.

World No.1 Brooks Koepka has shrugged off a mediocre start that left him three shots off the first-round lead at the Dunlop Phoenix golf tournament in Japan, the American confident he has enough time to make up the deficit.

The two-time defending champion of the Japan Golf Tour event was nowhere near his best on Thursday, but nonetheless eked out a reasonable two-under-par 69 at Phoenix Country Club in Miyazaki.

"I didn't hit it that great and putted pretty bad," Koepka said.

"A couple of putts I hit were just bad, and a couple of putts I just misread."

Koumei Oda of Japan tamed testing winds to lead on five-under 66, one stroke ahead of a large group including Argentine Emiliano Grillo and American Andrew Putnam.

The Australian contingent of David Bransdon, Brendan Jones, Brad Kennedy and Lee Won Joon all carded rounds of 70.

The 40-year-old Oda is no slouch, with eight career wins on the Japan Tour, but Koepka expressed confidence in reeling in the leader over the next three days.

"Three shots off the lead is fine," the double major winner in 2018 said. "I didn't shoot myself out of it, which is nice.

"Over four days, you are usually going to have one day when you don't play your best (and) hopefully that was today.

"On this golf course, if you are playing well and controlling distance, and making some putts, you can shoot eight-or-nine-under no problem. I will do that tomorrow."

Koepka was a combined 41 under par for his victories in 2016 and 2017.

SNAPSHOT OF THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN FIRST ROUND AT THE LAKES:

LEADERBOARD: Byeong Hun An (67); Matt Jager, amateur David Micheluzzi (68); Abraham Ancer, Adam Stephens, Marcus Fraser, Dimi Papadatos, Blake Proverbs, Cameron Percy (all 69).

PLAYER OF THE ROUND: An - aided by an eagle on his penultimate hole, the South Korean US PGA Tour star snared the lead with a five-under-par 67.

SHOT OF THE ROUND: Reigning US Amateur champion Viktor Hovland, from Norway, fired a long-range second shot into the par-5 11th which he tapped in for eagle.

STAT OF THE ROUND: Three players - Antonio Murdaca, Matthew Giles and Adam Blyth - all racked up 10s on one hole, a horror display that officials could never recall happening before.

QUOTE OF THE ROUND: "Mate, (I'm) just an Uber driver. Just to get mortgage going and a bit of income in." - world No.1939 Adam Stephens after surprising all with his three-under 69 start that earned him a share of fourth place.

TOURNAMENT SUMMARY: An braved 35km/h winds during a sizzling 67 in the morning before heavy rains lashed the afternoon groups. Matt Kuchar showed his class with a two-under 70 in the afternoon, while casualties included the highest-ranked Australian Cameron Smith (74), Brandt Snedeker (73) and defending champion Cameron Davis (76).

He proposed scrapping prize money, but Marcus Fraser won't be giving the $225,000 cheque back if he wins the Australian Open on Sunday.

"Not a chance," he said after opening with a three-under-par 69 on Thursday to be just two strokes off the first-round lead.

Fraser made the radical suggestion on Tuesday, after officials were unable to secure any of the world's top 25 players for this year's Open in Sydney.

With former world No.1s Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Justin Rose, Dustin Johnson, Adam Scott and Jason Day all snubbing the event having graced Australia's fairways in recent years, Fraser figured the best way to bring them back was to sell the Open with its history and prestige instead.

"We're all here playing for prize money, but I would still be here next year if we weren't," he said on Thursday.

"It was a bit of a passing comment, I suppose, but we need to remember who's playing this week, not who's not playing, I think, and remember the championship's bigger than any one player.

"This is one of the best tournaments in the world and we would all give anything to have our name on that trophy.

"Yeah, I would definitely play it if there was no prize money."

Fifth at the Rio Olympics two years ago, and despite his good form, family man Fraser also made the surprising revelation that he's starting to wind down - at just 40.

"Yeah, the kids just get older and they're obviously the No.1 priority," he said.

"And I just feel like especially playing the European Tour from Australia most of the time, I was doing five or 10 flights to Europe within six months every year just about.

"So it it wears you down eventually, and I'm not someone who really wants to chase something that's not really there."

Brandt Snedeker is living up to his billing as one of the Australian Open favourites during the first round at The Lakes.

The US PGA Tour stalwart took advantage of two par fives on the front nine to reach the turn at two under for the championship, one shot behind the leaders.

Playing alongside Snedeker in the marquee morning group, Cameron Smith endured a roller-coaster first nine, mixing two birdies with two bogeys to be even par.

Australia's highest-ranked player vying for the Stonehaven Cup this year in the absence of Jason Day and Marc Leishman, Smith hooked his second into the water on the par-5 14th and dropped another shot on the 16th hole.

Japanese amateur Takumi Kanaya, last week's NSW Open winner Jake McLeod and fellow Australian young gun Jack Munro were three under par and sharing the lead midway through their opening rounds.

Runner-up to Craig Parry 11 years ago, Snedeker was one behind alongside Korean Byeong Hun An and local hopes Dimitrios Papadatos, Adam Stephens, Anthony Choat and Matthew Stieger.

American drawcards Matt Kuchar and Keegan Bradley were due to tee off just after midday, with veterans tipping the windswept Lakes layout to again favour brain over brawn for the 104th Open championship.

Stonehaven Cup hopefuls were expected to have to negotiate winds up to 35km/h and rain during the opening round.

The possibility was high that a shorter and more accurate champion would prevail in the same way Peter Senior (2012), Greg Chalmers (2011) and Geoff Ogilvy (2010) did on the past three occasions the event was held at the course.

Defending champion Cameron Davis, who grew up playing regularly at The Lakes, also has an afternoon tee time but was confident he could adjust to the infamous Botany breezes.

"You just play a little bit more conservatively," Sydney native Davis said.

"You want to keep the ball nice and low (under the wind) and the best way to do that is to take an extra club and swing a little bit smoother, just grip down a little bit more," he said.

"That's all I'm changing."

NOTABLE FIRST ROUND TEE TIMES (* denotes 10th tee start, a- denotes amateur, Australians unless stated, times AEDT)

*7.05am: Cameron Smith , Anirban Lahiri (PAK), Brandt Snedeker (USA)

*7.15am: Greg Chalmers, Byeong Hun An (KOR), Brendan Steele (USA)

12.10pm: Cameron Davis, Matt Kuchar (USA), Abraham Ancer (MEX)

12.20pm: Keegan Bradley (USA), a-Viktor Hovland (NOR), John Senden

12.30pm: Rod Pampling, a-David Micheluzzi, Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL)