The Australian Open has begun, with the first round of the dual-gender tournament teeing off on Thursday morning across the two Sydney courses – The Lakes and The Australian.

2017 champion Cam Davis is in the clubhouse lead after an epic nine-under par 63 in a flawless opening round that included seven birdies and an eagle.

That matched the course record at The Lakes, while the day has also delivered an exciting hole-in-one for Japan’s Ayaka Sugihara at the 144 metre 11th.

There has been some controversy around the tournament’s implementation of a preferred lie rule for today’s round due to Wednesday’s wet weather.

On the first hole, Aussie LIV star Matt Jones mistakenly believed his second shot ended up on the fairway when it wasn’t.

Jones took a preferred lie, thinking he was able to, and made an up-and-down for par, however was docked two shots for the indiscretion, instead scoring a double bogey for the hole.

In the women’s tournament, 16-year-old Rachel Lee has been the story of the day.

The Year 10 student hit a six-under 67 in her opening round to sit in the lead, one shot ahead of former world number one Jiyai Shin of Korea.

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