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Australian No.1 Minjee Lee is two strokes off the lead after the opening round of the LPGA Tour Toto Japan Classic thanks to a bogey-free circuit of the Seta Golf Club.

Lee carded a five-under 67, birdieing two of the last three holes to be within range of outright leader, Korean world No.3 So Yeon Ryu.

She has a one stroke lead over compatriots Jiyai Shin, In-Kyung Kim and Japan's Nasa Hataoka.

Lee was in a tie for fifth alongside another Korean Sei Young Kim with two rounds of the 54-tournament remaining.

Ryu had five birdies on the last eight holes to underscore her impressive start.

"For a three-round tournament, you're better to make sure you have a really, really good starting day," she said.

"My short game was really great today. I putted really well," she said.

"I was struggling with my putting the last two weeks in Taiwan and Shanghai, but I'm so glad my putting worked well."

American Mo Martin provided a highlight with a hole-in-one on the ninth - she used a 5-wood on the 178-yard hole to finish with a 69, four shots off the lead.

"It landed just a couple feet short and it was just perfect," Martin said.

"The greens are really receptive, it just landed perfectly and then just skipped in there."

Sarah Jane Smith, the other Australian in field, signed for an even par 72.

The LPGA stop in Japan is the fourth of five consecutive tournaments across Asia.

Being the first woman to ever play the Queensland Open brought with it all sorts of pressure for Becky Kay.

But the 19-year-old amateur has chalked it up as a money-can't-buy experience, despite missing the cut at Brisbane Golf Club on Friday.

The Coolangatta and Tweed Heads Golf Club member paired rounds of 75 and 77 to finish 10-over and tied for 113th in an event previously won by the likes of Greg Norman and Peter Senior.

At just 55kg, Kay routinely gave away more than 60 metres off the tee to the other 131 males in the field.

But her deft short game was there to see, as it had been during her historic qualification round for the event last weekend.

The teenager admitted nerves got the better of her after she had graced back pages of newspapers and dominated social media in the lead-up to the event.

But Kay said that was all part of the fun as she continued her push to turn professional.

"It was amazing," she said.

"Leading up to the tournament starting I had so much media, it was pretty full on but a great experience.

"I had a lot of fun doing it ... I didn't play as good as I wanted to, definitely could have done a lot better.

"But it was surreal to see that (support) ... and beneficial for the future."

Fellow amateur Zach Murray retained his overnight lead, but will share it with two others when he begins day three in pursuit of some history of his own.

Never before has an amateur won back-to-back Australasian titles in the modern era, but Murray is positioned well after continuing the hot form that netted him the WA Open last week.

Murray managed a one-under 70 to move to seven-under before being joined by Adam Blyth and Jordan Zunic, who had two and three-under-par rounds respectively.

Daniel Fox set the pace on Friday, the West Australian matching Murray's round one efforts to equal the course record of 65, moving him to two-under and back into contention.

And Ryan Woodward was smiling after acing the seventh hole, his perfect eight-iron from 130-metres the highlight on his way to a 70.

Ryder Cup great Tony Jacklin has urged the sport to follow squash by using colour-coded balls to distinguish the professional game from the amateur one in the modern era of 'grip it and rip it golf'.

Jacklin is concerned at the way long hitters are dominating professional golf, an issue that came to the fore again when Cameron Champ, probably the longest driver seen on the PGA Tour, clinched his first win at Sunday's Sanderson Farms Championship in Mississippi.

Champ started to attract a lot of attention on the secondary Web.Com Tour in 2017, averaging a single-season record of 343 yards off the tee.

"Cameron is like a lot of guys on tour these days, they smash it a mile," said Jacklin, the most successful European captain in Ryder Cup history. "And most courses are set up to allow them to do it because there is no premium on accuracy any more.

"It seems like everyone has bowed to new technology. The ball goes miles which also means we need longer golf courses, making them more expensive to maintain and having the negative impact of taking more time to play 18 holes.

"Meanwhile, the amateur game seems much the same as it ever was. I believe we could start to adapt by going the way of squash and using different colour-coded golf balls for the professionals and for the amateurs," said Jacklin.

"Let's have one colour for the ball that goes the furthest, then cut the distance 20 or 30 per cent and use a different colour. You would get round quicker while courses would be shorter and less expensive to run."

Squash balls for senior players come in six varieties, each with different levels of bounce denoted by coloured dots. For younger players, there are a number of mini-squash balls that have a high, prolonged bounce.

Jacklin, who also won the 1969 British Open and 1970 US Open, believes modern-day golf has become too one-dimensional, with imagination and creativity in short supply.

"It's become a bit ridiculous," the 74-year-old said. "The skill of the game, shaping shots, keeping the ball in the fairway, they were attributes that used to be very important.

"Nowadays you just need to be blessed with a big, strong body and a putting stroke. Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, they're all big hitters.

"It's a sad reflection on the game the likes of Peter Thomson, Bobby Locke, Ben Hogan and Jack Nicklaus used to play."

Zach Murray's sudden charge towards Australian golfing history means the celebratory beers will have to wait until Christmas.

The Victorian amateur notched a wire-to-wire win in last week's WA Open, opening the tournament with a blistering eight-under round of 64.

And the 21-year-old showed his putter hadn't cooled to hold the round one lead at the Queensland Open on Thursday.

His six-under-par 65 at Brisbane Golf Club equalled the course record, while playing partner Adam Blyth is one shot back in outright second in the $110,000 event.

No amateur has won back-to-back events on the Australasian Tour in the modern era, but Murray isn't fussed as he eyes an unlikely slice of history.

"There was actually a bit of a sense of calm out there after last week, knowing I had the weight off my shoulders," he told AAP.

"I'm in a bit of a hot run of form and you've just got to jump on and hold on for as long as you can."

His biggest concern has been the mental fatigue sustained by staving off contenders for four days in Perth.

"I was pretty knackered; I was going to have a couple of beers but was just too tired," he said.

"Usually I would've hooked in, but it just takes it out of you ... it was probably a good thing I didn't.

"I might just lay off the frothies for a bit and save them until Chrissy time."

Murray's WA Open win earned him full status on the PGA Tour of Australasia until the end of the 2019 season, if he opts to turn pro.

Admitting the Perth breakthrough had been a "serious game changer", the relaxed character said that may be a job for next week.

"There's a lot to organise and I can't be bothered trying to think about what's going on off the course when I'm trying to play," he said.

"I'll take a week off (and skip the NSW Open) when I don't have to worry about making eight-foot par putts."

Playing an historic round of her own, amateur Becky Kay dropped five shots across the first nine holes before showing her touch on the back nine.

The first female to compete against the men in the tournament's history mixed three birdies with two back-nine bogeys to recover to four-over.

Unlike so many of his countrymen, proud American Matt Kuchar has prioritised the golf World Cup over a Thanksgiving at home with his extended family this year.

And he's done it with the full blessing of wife Sybi and his two young sports-loving sons, who will also make the journey down under.

Kuchar will be one of the star turns at the Australian Open at the Lakes in Sydney on November 15-18, before partnering with Kyle Stanley for the following week's World Cup at Metropolitan on Melbourne's famed sandbelt.

Stanley is currently the higher-ranked member of the US squad at No.28 in the world.

But that still makes him just the 14th-ranked American on the current global rankings headed by No.1 Brooks Koepka.

Kuchar - a seven-time winner on the US PGA Tour - is back in 38th spot.

But despite the clash with Thanksgiving, he wasted no time lobbying Stanley to claim the second spot on the American team.

The 40-year-old Kuchar had previously paired with Gary Woodland in China to win the World Cup on debut back in 2011.

"It's such a cool event and to have the past greats that have gone before, to have such great history, to have (2000 winners) Tiger (Woods) and (David) Duval play," Kuchar told a teleconference on Wednesday.

"The names on the list are just fantastic as far as past champions go.

"I'm honoured to be on that list and excited to be going back to try to have another chance at it."

It's a chance many other Americans - and the likes of US-based Australian Jason Day - turned down, with Kuchar fully understanding of their reasons for doing so.

"You can't discount the holiday of Thanksgiving; it's such a big holiday in the United States," he said.

"There are plenty of people who put it above Christmas as it's one of the times where you give thanks.

"It's not about presents, it's not about some of the commercialism of a holiday."

So the ideal compromise for Kuchar - a veteran of four Presidents Cup and four Ryder Cup campaigns - was to get the his immediate family along for the ride.

"We'll still have an Australian version of Thanksgiving when we're down there," he said.

"If it's turkey or whatever it is, we'll try to be thankful for the things you have, the place you live, the life we get to lead.

"So we'll still treat it as a holiday.

"It will be tough not being with mum and dad and the grandparents and the in-laws.

"For me, I get to be with wife and kids and that will be special, but next year I'll certainly go back to the old tradition of the big family get-together."

The limelight may not agree with Zach Murray but the boom amateur golfer admits he will have to get used to it if he decides to turn professional after this week's Queensland Open.

Murray will sit down next week to determine when he will enter the pro ranks after the Victorian got a taste of the high life with a breakthrough WA Open victory last weekend.

The 21-year-old admitted he has struggled to get his head right for the Queensland Open, with his phone "about to explode" after his two shot win in Perth.

However, Murray said he would need to learn to embrace the hype when he turns professional - which may be sooner rather than later.

He is mulling over a decision after the WA Open win earned him full status on the PGA Tour of Australasia until the end of the 2019 season if he opted to turn pro.

"It is a bit tempting (to turn pro). There are a lot of carrots dangling down but I will sit down next week and make a plan for the rest of the year," Murray told AAP.

"It's been tough the last couple of days with a lot of media and just saying thank you to everyone.

"It's been difficult to manage and it's the first time I have had to do it so it is a great learning experience for me.

"It's what comes with success and I am more than happy to embrace it, take it on as a challenge."

Murray's head may be spinning but he is confident of again threatening the pros at the Queensland Open - won by good mate and fellow amateur Brett Coletta in 2016 - with an eye on mid-November's Australian Open.

"The confidence is high," Murray said.

"I am trying to calm things down a little bit.

"I have never had to do this before so don't know what to expect ...but the form hasn't gone anywhere."

The Queensland Open's field also includes PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit leader Daniel Nisbet, Web.com Tour player Rhein Gibson and the first woman to contest the event - 19-year-old Becky Kay.

Australia's Minjee Lee would be the talk of women's golf if it wasn't for Ariya Jutanugarn.

The 22-year-old Lee has quietly put together a formidable season in her fourth year on the LPGA Tour.

With just three events remaining, the Perth product ranks behind only long-hitting Thai star Jutanagarn in the season points race and on the prize money list.

But so dominant has fellow 22-year-old Jutanugarn been that she wrapped up the points-based player of the year award.

While she lacks Jutanugarn's raw power, Lee's consistent quality has been remarkable.

She has amassed 13 top-10 finishes from her 25 tournaments with three runner-up finishes and two third placings to go with her victory at the Volvik Championship in May.

She also leads the LPGA Tour for rounds under par in 2018 with 92.

She's second for top-10 finishes and for birdies made (390) and third for scoring average (69.64) and greens in regulation (74.9 per cent).

All of that has earned her $US1,518,304 ($A2,143,177) in prize money going into this week's Japan Open.

She has climbed to a career-high ranking of world No.5 in recent weeks.

But then there's Jutanugarn.

She has three victories, including the US Women's Open, among her 15 top-10 finishes from 25 events.

She leads the money list with just under $US2.5 million ($A3.5m), has the lowest scoring average (69.38) and has led the season points race every week since May 18.

She also leads from Lee in total birdies with 421 from the same number of events.

Indian star Anirban Lahiri and Belgium's Nicolas Colsaerts are the latest additions to a strong international field for next month's Australian Open golf championship.

Organisers capitalised on the pair's entry to play for their countries in the World Cup of Golf in Melbourne, enticing them to come to Sydney a week earlier to contest the Open at The Lakes from November 15-18.

They join a field which includes US PGA Tour winners Matt Kuchar, Keegan Bradley, Brandt Snedeker and Brendan Steele.

Lahiri, 31, who has notched 18 global wins in reaching as high as No.33 in the world rankings, will make his Australian Open debut.

Ex-Ryder Cup player Colsaerts will make his second Australian Open appearance, having shared 18th behind Matt Jones at The Australian in 2015.

Cameron Champ is probably the longest driver the US PGA Tour has seen, but his putter won him the Sanderson Farms Championship in Mississippi.

The 23-year-old Californian took his rapid career rise to a new level on Sunday, claiming a maiden PGA Tour victory in just his second start as a full tour member when he won by four shots with a 21-under 267 score.

Champ was still an amateur 12 months ago and preparing for the second stage of the PGA Tour's qualifying school after helping the United States win the Walker Cup.

He successfully navigated qualifying school, then won on the secondary Web.com Tour earlier this year to earn his PGA Tour card for the 2018-19 season.

Champ attracted plenty of attention on the Web.com Tour when he averaged 343 yards off the tee, a single-season driving distance record.

But he again showed on Sunday that he is not a one-trick pony, one-putting the final six greens after squandering a four-shot lead and making four straight birdies from the 13th and another on the 18th as he held off Canada's Corey Conners (68).

"It means everything," Champ said after a final round 68 in which he was forced to use a spare driver after cracking his regular club shortly before teeing off.

"All the hard work over the years, all the sacrifices my family has made for me to be able to have this opportunity. This last year has been just amazing.

"I was in school at this time last year, made it through q-school, Web.com Tour and now PGA Tour winner is just unreal."

Two young amateur golfers upstaged the pros as Zach Murray won the WA Open golf championship by two shots from David Micheluzzi.

Murray, 21, shot a final round of three-under 69 to triumph at 16-under 272 in the Australasian tour event at Mt Lawley GC.

Fellow Victorian Micheluzzi, 22, posted a 70 to be second while Matthew Millar (ACT) was the leading pro in third place, a shot further back after a 67.

Murray put on a show for the crowds on the back-nine, reeling off birdies on the 15th, 16th and 17th holes to ensure he headed to the 18th tee with a four-shot lead.

"I am sort of starting to calm down now; the adrenaline has been running high all day. I came home really strong which was really nice under the pressure," added Murray.

"I holed a really big putt on 12 for birdie and that calmed me down. I hit a great shot into 13 and missed it. Then hit probably one of my worst shots for the week on 14 and made bogey. That made me re-set.

"I had finished well on the last few holes all week so in the back of my mind, I knew I could do it, which was crucial."

Murray becomes the third amateur in seven years to win the WA Open after Oliver Goss achieved the feat in 2012 as did Curtis Luck four years later.

With his win Murray earned full status on the PGA Tour of Australasia until the end of the 2019 season, should he decide to turn pro in that time.