Grace Kim says the "guys can just suck it up" after the LPGA Tour-bound star opened a commanding three-shot halfway lead at the dual-gender TPS Sydney at Bonnie Doon Golf Club.
Kim once again lived up to her status as the highest-ranked Australian in the field - male or female - with a second straight seven-under-par 64 on Friday.
The 22-year-old Sydneysider was "a bit bummed" after registering her lone bogey through 36 holes on the par-3 15th but, with a whopping 15 birdies more than offsetting that one blemish, Kim rocketed to 14 under for the tournament.
Last year's runner-up Brendan Jones (67), New South Welshman Daniel Gale and teenage amateur Jeffrey Guan (65) are Kim's closest pursuers at 11 under.
Queenslanders Robyn Choi (66) and Victorians Aaron Wilkin (68) and Tom Power-Horan are two strokes further back, five behind.
Kim is revelling in the opportunity to share the fairways with the men and said a win on Sunday "would definitely be a slap across the guys' faces".
"It's fun. I just really feel quite comfortable and confident out there playing with the guys," she said.
"It sort of puts me in my relaxed mode, which, once you have fun and just enjoy it, you play your best golf.
"I even had nine under in the pro-am. I was in tears, just laughing so much.
"I also won some lunch off (playing partner) Justin Warren today, so that's a big tick as well."
While the banter between the guys and girls is in full swing, there have also been mutterings in the men's locker-room about the women getting a serious leg-up off the tees.
The tee boxes for the ladies are at least 76 metres forward of the men on five holes, with the par-5 fifth playing only 372 metres for the women - some 108 metres shorter than what the men had to contend with.
All up, the women have a 931-metre head start on the men this week.
"The guys can suck it up," Kim told AAP.
"For how long they hit, they can just, yeah, suck it up. They're just complaining 'cos we're doing better.
"It does help if you're long and straight at the same time (but) I'm not really the longest driver and we're all playing the same course."
Power-Horan says the rivalry is healthy and is relishing a mini battle of the sexes over the weekend with catch-her-if-you can Kim.
"There's some great girls but there's definitely a bit of poking fun at each other," Power-Horan said.
"It's 5-3 to the men in this format so far so we're trying to bolster that lead, I guess, but ultimately we all just want to win.
"I've been playing well and Grace is playing great. She just got her card to the main (LPGA) Tour.
"We played a practice round together actually and she's from Sydney. So I'm looking forward to it."
