Aussie golfers in Japan held up by North Korea missile

Reports that North Korea fired a missile over Japan led to a bizarre and unprecedented situation at the ANA Open golf tournament in the northern city of Sapporo.

Victorian golfer Matt Griffin was preparing for his second round when news broke that North Korea fired a missile east from the Sunan district in Pyongyang.

With Japan reportedly warning residents to take shelter, tournament organisers wasted no time taking action.

"We woke this morning to an alert that said there was North Korea had launched a ballistic missile and another that said it had landed in the Pacific Ocean," Griffin told SEN.

"They've suspended play out at the course for a while and we'll just wait and see what they decide to do."

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Griffin was one under par after the first round.

He is not the only Australian competing in Sapporo, with Aaron Towsend, Adam Bland, Kurt Barnes, David Bransdon, Brendan Jones and Brad Kennedy also at the tournament.

While Griffin believes the immediate threat is low, he is aware of the potential need to interrupt his professional life at the drop of a hat.

"You hope that nothing will ever happen (with North Korea) because it's just so stupid if it does," he said.

"If something does start up we're in the worst place.... It's kind of a difficult position to be in because it's our job. If you walk away and don't play any more, you lose your job. We'll get the best information from the Australian government."

Griffin jumped on the phone to SEN radio despite massive concern from his family and friends.

"My phone is going quite crazy this morning," Griffin said.

"It's definitely heightened interest. My fiancee's quite heavily involved with Korea, she works for a Korean business, they're quite calm over it. If tensions do increase I'll be jumping on a plane as soon as possible."