Wednesday, 13 February 2019:

MINJEE LEE of Australia plays her tee shot on the first hole during the final round of the ANA Inspiration at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California.

Karrie Webb wants to wind back the clock. Minjee Lee hopes her time is now.

Both local golfers enter the women's Australian Open, starting on Thursday in Adelaide, desperately seeking their national golfing crown.

The 22-year-old Lee will tee off at the Grange Golf Club as Australia's top-ranked golfer - world No.7.

Webb, twice Lee's age, has slipped to world No.211 as she becomes a bit-player on the LPGA Tour.

But the veteran has issued a pre-tournament warning: don't write me off just yet.

"I'm very honoured to have my name on that trophy five times and, hopefully, I'm about to add another time," Webb told reporters on Wednesday.

But herein lies the rub for Webb: in last week's VicOpen, she shot 65 in the second round, then carded 82 in the third.

"I won't be out here if I don't think I'm competitive," she said.

"But obviously, there's playing and then there's playing tournament golf and just the little things that need to go into playing well for all four days.

"I think that I'm quite capable. But it's a bit more of a lottery than when I was thinking it about 365 days of the year."

Webb is the sole Australian to win the national open multiple times - her last triumph was in 2014.

But if not her again, Webb wants another Australian to win.

"I would rather see an Australian flag at the top of the leaderboard than any other flag," she said.

Lee shapes as the best local hope despite, like Webb, missing the cut for the final round at the VicOpen.

Lee - equal fifth in last year's Australian Open; tied third in 2017; tied seventh in 2015 - said she's ready to carry the prospects of a home-nation win.

"I'm not sure if you want to call it a burden but, obviously, there's some expectation," Lee said on Wednesday.

"I want to play well because it's my country's open. But it's probably more expectation on myself more than anything.

"It is different because, obviously, I'm Australian and a lot of the local crowds come to watch ... but I like that. I like how everybody comes out and supports - it's a really great feeling."

AAP