Canberra golfer Nikki Campbell forced her way into contention in the Women’s Australian Open on Saturday after executing a vital piece of advice.

Campbell arrived at the links-style Royal Melbourne layout fresh from a top-10 finish at the Ladies Masters at Royal Pines last week.

And she was told by boyfriend and caddie Damon Welsford that the player who adjusts the quickest to the vastly-different conditions will do the best.

After shooting a third-round three-under-par 70, Campbell found herself just one shot off the lead, held by American teenager Jessica Korda.

She concentrated on remaining patient and worked hard on a strategy which would best suit her game on the tough sandbelt course.

“It is very different to last week, especially the greens, and my caddie said to me you’ll do well this week if you adjust quicker than everyone else,” Campbell said.

“He’s very much into adjusting to what you’ve got to play so I’ve been working on a lot of putting speed.

“Last week, you needed to have speed at the hole and, this week, certain putts you need to die into the hole, so it’s a different mentality,” she said.

Campbell, 31, overcame a slight mid-round slump with bogeys at the ninth and 10th holes to record birdies at the 11th, 12th and 18th.

A consistent performer in Japan, where she prefers to compete as it is easier to return to Australia, Campbell believes not everyone has to play in the US to prove their credentials.

“In my opinion, you don’t have to,” she said. “I think it depends on what sort of life you want.

“Proving things to people doesn’t really bother me. People will think what they want.

“As long as I remain positive and happy in the game, that’s all I’m after.”

A grinding sort of player, Campbell believes she has as good a chance of winning on Sunday as any of the highly-rated players with whom she is in contention.

“I think if I can control my nerves, I’ll be in with a good shot, but there’s a lot of good players up the top of that leaderboard.

“Really, anyone could win this. Someone could just get on track tomorrow and shoot really low,” she said.

Joint first round leader, Sarah Kemp, slipped to two over par and a share of 16th while four-times winner Karrie Webb had another disappointing round and is six over the card.