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United States playing captain Tiger Woods has urged Presidents Cup golf fans to move on from the Patrick Reed cheating scandal that threatens to cast a shadow over the prestigious tournament in Melbourne this week.

Reed was caught violating the rules during the third round of the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas on Saturday.

The former Masters winner copped a two-stroke penalty for making improper swings in a waste bunker at the Woods-hosted event.

Australian golfers Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman both expected local fans to stick it to Reed at the Presidents Cup, being played at Royal Melbourne.

But Woods was hopeful they would take a more mature approach.

"The fans down here are awesome. They're into their sport," Woods said.

"Yes, I have talked to Pat about it. It's behind us.

"We're all into this week, we're focused about trying to go against this great International team here. We're in Australia, they've got a couple of Aussies on the team.

"But again, this is one of the greatest sporting countries in the world. They love their sport and I think that this will be a fantastic event."

Woods did not expect the furore to affect his star-studded United States team.

"As we all know, Pat was penalised. That was it, end of story," Woods said.

"Unfortunately he missed the playoff by those two shots."

At the Presidents Cup launch in Melbourne on Monday, Australian veteran Adam Scott wouldn't be drawn on his thoughts on the cheating scandal.

"I guess it's all kind of played itself out now," Scott said.

"They've dealt with it, the officials have dealt with it and we're moving on."

Scott is passing captain Ernie Els and Fijian legend Vijay Singh as he makes a record ninth Presidents Cup appearance for the International team.

The 39-year-old has deliberately avoided trying to lay on too much advice for his younger teammates this week.

"I like the way this team's shaped up," Scott said.

"I think Ernie's done an incredible job of guiding us into this position this week.

"Certainly with seven new guys on our team, I think that's a real positive for us, a bit of fresh blood.

"They're really ready to go, so I'm kind of really feeding off that young energy that's running here this week.

"At the moment, I really don't want to put too much in their heads.

"They're young players, they're here, they've qualified, they're pretty good.

"I want to get the most out of them and I don't want to influence them in any way unless they've really got a query.

"We're just getting a feel for things at the moment, but hopefully I can be useful when needed."

Matt Jones is pinching himself after joining some of the legends of golf with a second Australian Open crown.

Jones made a clutch up-and-down par at the last to claim a one-stroke victory on Sunday over South African Louis Oosthuizen, who eagled the 72nd hole to set up a dramatic climax.

Champion in 2015 at The Australian Golf Club, where he's been a member since he was 15, Jones finished at 15-under-par for the tournament after closing with a 69.

Jones looked like winning in a procession before Oosthuizen's late heroics.

Like a Sunday afternoon stroll in the park, Jones casually walked the fairways hand in hand with his wife, a former Miss Idaho, and seven-year-old daughter Saber as he watched his challengers come and go for most of the day.

But matters turned dicey when Oosthuizen suddenly cut his lead to one and Jones found a bunker off the tee on 18.

Unable to re-find the fairway from the trap, he left his approach 10 metres short and had to hole a five-foot putt to become the 19th multiple winner of the Open - and first since American superstar Jordan Spieth three years ago.

"It's a great honour to be able to put my name on that trophy with all those champions and there are multiple major champions on there," Jones said.

"To be on the trophy with Jack (Nicklaus) and Gary (Player) and Greg (Norman) and Adam (Scott), Rory (McIlroy), Jordan.

"To be able to do it twice is very special and something that I'll be able to look back on later in life and be very proud of."

But unlike when he held on grimly to deny Spieth and Scott by a shot four years ago, after racking up double and triple bogeys on a nervy front nine, Jones wasn't threatened on Sunday until the death.

His overnight three-stroke lead was never trimmed to anything less than two shots until he walked to the 18th.

He had one hand on the Stonehaven Cup after stretching his advantage to four shots after the front nine.

After successive birdies on the 13th and 14th holes, Jones could afford a bogey on 15 and still edge out Oosthuizen, who closed with a 66 to finish outright second.

Victory also earned Jones a British Open start next year at Royal St George's, where Greg Norman won the Claret Jug in 1993 for a second time.

"I've played in maybe five British Opens and it's the one major I would most like to win. To be able to do that and plan a schedule around that, will be fantastic," Jones said.

Queenslander Aaron Pike (69) also punched his ticket to the 2020 Open after sharing third spot with Japanese amateur Takumi Kanaya (71).

Chasing his maiden major win on home soil, Marc Leishman had been mounting a challenge until his round unravelled with a double-bogey on nine.

Leishman sprayed his approach into the deep rough right, chopped out to the cart path and came up short before two-putting to fall six shots off the pace.

The US PGA Tour star eventually signed for a 71 to finish in a share of 10th at seven under.

Aaron Pike began the Australian Open week trying to ignore a wave of online criticism for close mate Jason Day withdrawing from the tournament.

On Sunday, Pike secured one of three spots in the 2020 British Open field and credited former world No.1 Day for helping him secure a dream major championship debut.

The Australian Open is the first event of the British Open qualifying series, which awards spots to the leading three players in the top 10 in Sydney who are not already exempt.

Pike (69) finished tied third at nine under par, five strokes behind winner Matt Jones (69).

Jones claimed a second Open crown at The Australian GC when he defeated South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen (66) by one shot.

Jones also snared a British Open berth, as did Japan's amateur world No.1 Takumi Kanaya (71) for sharing third with Pike.

Day was slated to contest just his fourth Australian Open as a pro but withdrew from the event, and next week's Presidents Cup, citing a chronic back injury.

The 2015 US PGA Championship winner copped a barrage of online abuse, which Pike, 34, admits was hurtful to read.

"Absolutely, because I know how much pain he was actually in and how bad his back is," Pike told AAP.

"People want to criticise him because he's not coming but he has to look at the bigger picture."

Pike regularly visits Day in the US, playing and practising with the 12-time US PGA Tour winner at course at his home base in Ohio.

The world No.848 said seeing how a major champion works on his game had elevated his own and hoped Day would be proud..

"Especially because of the amount of time I've spent with him this year practising and training. He's been really driving me along," Pike said.

"Two or three months ago, he was telling me, 'Mate, there's no reason why you shouldn't be playing alongside me at these big tournaments.'

"He's helped a lot, psychologically, but on the course as well. I wouldn't be here without the guidance he's given me and the competitive nature of when we play and practise against one another."

The 149th British Open will be held at Royal St George's in England, where in 1993 Greg Norman won the Claret Jug for a second time.

The Open qualifying series includes 16 events in 11 countries, offering a minimum of 46 places in golf's oldest major.

PLAYER OF THE DAY: Matt Jones - the 2015 champion and 2017 runner-up is the first dual champion since Jordan Spieth after notching a one-stroke victory over South African Louis Oosthuizen

SHOT OF THE DAY: Jones' ice-cool pitch to five foot on the last sealed the deal after Oosthuizen had applied the blow torch three minutes earlier with an eagle

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Two or three months ago, he was telling me 'mate, there's no reason why you shouldn't be playing alongside me at these tournaments'." Aaron Pike on the year-long encouragement close mate Jason Day has provided after securing a British Open start with his joint third at The Australian

TOURNAMENT SUMMARY: Jones joined some of the legends of golf as a multiple Open champion after finishing at 15 under, one ahead of Oosthuizen, with Pike and Japanese amateur sharing third five shots further back.

Not wearing his excuses, Cameron Smith expects the Melbourne crowds to stick it to Patrick Reed at this week's Presidents Cup as the fallout continued from the American's cheating scandal in the Bahamas.

Reed was caught violating the rules during the third round of the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.

The former Masters winner copped a two-stroke penalty after TV cameras caught him making improper swings in a waste bunker during Saturday's third round of the Tiger Woods-hosted event.

Reed was sanctioned for flattening out sand behind his ball with two practise swings, but insisted he didn't improve his lie despite conceding he had moved sand and therefore violated the rules.

The world No.17 defended the practise swings by insisting camera angles made the violations look worse.

"I think with a different camera angle, they would have realised that, if it was from the side you would have seen that with the back swing, it was not improving the lie because it was far enough away from the golf ball," Reed said.

But Smith, making his Presidents Cup debut at Royal Melbourne next week, refused to accept Reed's justification.

"If you make a mistake maybe once, you could maybe understand but to give a bit of a bulls**t response like the camera angle ... that's pretty up there (inexcusable)," Smith said after finishing his Australian Open campaign.

Smith echoed his fellow Australian Marc Leishman in saying the crowds at Royal Melbourne are likely to sledge Reed.

"I hope so," Smith said. "I don't have any sympathy for anyone that cheats.

"I hope the crowd absolutely gives it to not only him, but everyone (on the American team) next week."

Smith did not question Reed's character, only his rules infraction in the Bahamas.

"I know Pat pretty good and he's always been nice to me, so I don't want to say anything bad about him but anyone's cheating the rules, I'm not up for that," Smith said.

Smith also warned crowds against crossing the line when needling Reed.

"I'm sure if it did get out of hand, I know I would definitely, and everyone on the International team, would tell the crowd to settle down a little bit," he said.

Tiger Woods has finished fourth behind winner Henrik Stenson at the World Challenge on Saturday but has already switched his attention towards his role as United States playing captain at next week's Presidents Cup.

The tournament host in the Bahamas was tied for the lead with five holes left at Albany Golf Club on the island of New Providence, but bogeyed the 14th hole after three poor shots in a row and was never a factor thereafter.

"I had my chances," Woods said, after carding three-under-par 69 to finish four strokes behind Stenson.

"I didn't make a lot of putts, a lot of birdies on the weekend.

"I had a lot of good opportunities to put the ball in there close from where I drove it and just didn't quite hit it close enough. (Was) just outside that range and consequently ended up short."

Woods's problems at the short par-four 14th began when he yanked his drive and ended up in a nasty lie in a waste bunker near the green, from where he pretty much had to hit and hope that the ball came of the sand with the appropriate speed, spin and trajectory.

But he fired his second shot over the green, before fluffing a chip that failed to get up the slope and rolled back almost to his feet.

Woods will have plenty of time on the day-long flight to Australia to contemplate what went wrong and put it right as he leads the US against the Internationals at Royal Melbourne.

He plans to talk things over with his team on the charter flight.

"We're going to be locked up in a tin can for 23 hours, so we're just going to enjoy the ride down there and do a little bit of talking, a couple of meetings here and there on the flight so we all have an understanding of what our roles are going to be down there," he said.

Woods has researched the weather forecast for Melbourne, where scorching temperatures are expected on Monday before a change brings in cool temperatures for the tournament itself later in the week.

"Typical Melbourne," Woods said of the Victorian capital.

Calum Hill birdied his final two holes to take a share of the lead into the final round of the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open.

The 25-year-old Scot had led by one after 36 holes, but on a day of low scoring he found himself in a tight battle at the top of the leaderboard throughout round three.

A bogey on the 16th saw him drop two shots off the lead, but he produced that big finish to get to 16 under alongside Belgian Thomas Detry and Frenchman Antoine Rozner.

Australia's Travis Smyth holds a share of 20th place with three other players after posting a 71, having carded a 70 and 66 in his opening two rounds.

Hill claimed two wins on the Challenge Tour last season to earn his place on the European Tour and is now looking for a first top-tier victory in just his sixth event.

Hill birdied the par-five second but gave the shot straight back on the next before a hat-trick of gains from the fifth had him back in a share of the lead at the turn.

He flew the green with his second and then played a clumsy chip to drop that shot at the 16th before two long putts on the 17th and last had him back on top.

Rozner also birdied the last in a 66, while Detry did the same in his 67.

Dane Rasmus Hojgaard and American Sihwan Kim were a shot off the lead, with Scot Connor Syme at 13 under and countryman Grant Forrest a further shot back.

Matt Jones is poised to join some of the legends of golf as a multiple Australian Open champion after seizing command with an ice-cool third round on his beloved home track.

Continuing his affinity at The Australian Golf Club in Sydney, where he's been a member for more than 20 years, Jones will carry a three-stroke lead into Sunday's final round.

Champion at the venue in 2015 after holding off Jordan Spieth and Adam Scott, and a runner-up in 2017, Jones' three-under-par 68 on an afternoon of tough going vaulted the US PGA Tour star to 13 under for the tournament.

With three-straight rounds in the 60s, Jones is three shots clear of American Cameron Tringale, who carded a 69.

He also led by three entering the final round four years ago and overcame a double bogey and and a triple on the front nine to win.

Jones said he'd draw on that experience if he encountered any similar adversity on Sunday.

"It's the old saying, one shot at a time, which is kind of true. Just to play smart and give yourself birdie opportunities," he said.

"I know the golf course. I know the breaks pretty well on the greens, which I feel very comfortable on putting and if something does happen like that, like it did in '15, I'll be comfortable enough and I won't have to worry about it."

Japanese amateur Takumi Kanaya (70), South Africa's former British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen (70) and English ace Paul Casey (71) are all at nine under and four back.

Sydney's Jamie Arnold is one stroke further adrift at eight under with New Zealander Denzel Ieremia (71) after firing a tournament-best 64 during perfect Saturday morning conditions.

The highest-ranked player in the field, Casey had enjoyed the outright lead approaching the turn before making a mess of the par-4 ninth.

The world No.14 landed in a bunker, had a horrible stance, hacked out and missed a two-foot bogey putt to rack up a dreaded double, but was still not out of it.

Casey's troubles were nothing like that of Dimi Papadatos, with last year's runner-up driving his ball into a tree - and staying there - on the par-4 12th.

Papadatos had to go back to the tee and hit off again, his eventual double bogey being his second of the day after he, at one stage, had been just one shot off the lead.

He finished the day at six under and six behind Jones, who had a golden opportunity to join Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Peter Thomson Greg Norman and Jordan Spieth in an elite club of greats to have had their name etched on the Stonehaven Cup at least twice.

Not that Marc Leishman was ready to hand Jones the trophy after his round of 70 that left the Presidents Cup star five behind entering championship Sunday.

"I feel like I'm still in it," Leishman said.

"I'll need to play really well, but I feel like my game is there - it's ready to do that; it's just a matter of making the putts.

"Hopefully, I can get the speed of the greens, make some putts and put some pressure on at least."

PLAYER OF THE DAY: Matt Jones - the 2015 champion and 2017 runner-up continued his affinity with The Australian, where he's a member, to grab a three-stroke lead with his three-under-par 68

SHOT OF THE DAY: It takes a pretty special shot to finish up a tree but that's exactly what last year's runner-up Dimi Papadatos did with his drive on the par-4 12th hole

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I did see and it was pretty ordinary, to be honest." Marc Leishman reckons American Patrick Reed deserves all the roasting he gets from fans at next week's Presidents Cup in Melbourne after being penalised two strokes for illegal play on Saturday at Tiger Woods' Hero Challenge in the Bahamas

TOURNAMENT SUMMARY: Jones is poised to join some of the legends of golf as a multiple Open champion as he heads into the final round three shots clear of American Cameron Tringale and four ahead of Japanese amateur Takumi Kanaya, South African Louis Oosthuizen (70) and Englishman Paul Casey.

Marc Leishman says Patrick Reed can expect plenty of needle from International team fans at next week's Presidents Cup in Melbourne after golf's most-polarising figure had been caught cheating in the Bahamas.

Reed copped a two-stroke penalty for improper swings in a waste bunker during Saturday's third round of the Tiger Woods-hosted event.

The 2018 Masters champion was sanctioned for flattening out sand behind his ball with two practice swings, but insisted he didn't improve his lie despite conceding he had moved sand and therefore violated the rules.

"It's unfortunate," said Reed, whose bogey at the 11th hole was changed to a triple-bogey eight.

"I didn't feel it drag, but then when they brought it up to me, it definitely did drag some of the sand and, because of that, it's considered a two-stroke penalty.

"I think with a different camera angle, they would have realised that, if it was from the side you would have seen that with the back swing, it was not improving the lie because it was far enough away from the golf ball.

"But after seeing that camera angle, because it brushed the sand, it was a penalty."

Slugger White, US PGA Tour vice president of rules and competitions, said the matter was clear cut.

"You cannot remove or press down loose soil or sand - that's the bottom line," White said, noting Reed's intent was irrelevant.

One of the most-maligned players on tour, Reed dealt with accusations of cheating and stealing from teammates during his college days and was already an easy target for International team fans at Royal Melbourne.

Leishman says the world No.17 has given fans plenty more ammunition to roast him when the Woods-captained USA outfit chase an eighth-straight Presidents Cup win.

"I did see and it was pretty ordinary, to be honest," Leishman said after his Saturday third round at the Australian Open.

"It didn't look too good for him."

Reed's conduct caused a huge stir on social media, with many people posting skits of children shovelling sand and comparing it to the American's bunker play.

"There's opportunities there (to sledge Reed). Maybe not (with) shovels. But there's definitely opportunities - that he's brought on himself.

"As long as it's not disrespectful. You never want to cross the line but there's some pretty good ammo there, isn't there?"

Leishman was asked if he wanted to go head to head with Reed in Melbourne.

"I don't really care who I play, to be honest. Whoever Ernie puts me up against, I'm happy to play," he said.

"I don't want to give anyone any ammunition to want to beat us any more than what they already do.

"So I'll just hopefully play good golf, beat whoever I'm playing and, hopefully, we'll have a successful week."