Gale told his pro-am playing partners "this baby's mine" when he lined up next to the BMW M5 Touring on show at Royal Queensland's par-three 11th on Wednesday.

He was handed the keys on Thursday after an eight-iron into the 154-metre par three disappeared into the cup.

"I played the pro-am yesterday and said, 'this baby's mine'," he said.

"You always want to believe and you semi-joke, tell your girlfriend and your family it'll be yours, and it actually happened.

"I checked the prizes earlier in the week and saw they'd changed it from just a weekend prize for the first to make it.

"I celebrated, then quickly thought, 'hopefully no-one else has won it before me'.

"There's always that guy, you know what I mean?

"It got confirmed about 30 seconds after it was all mine."

Gale, who birdied the next hole, was outright second at five-under through 12 holes when storms arrived and play was suspended.

Spain's Sebastian Garcia led at seven-under through 15 holes while Ryan Fox and Anthony Quayle are among seven a shot behind Gale.

Impressed with how he'd settled, the 29-year-old said the premature stoppage allowed him to refocus and aim at the $450,000 first prize and playing opportunities in Europe that come with it.

"Winning changes everything," he said of his plans for next year.

"My form's been trending ... things are coming together, I was in the hunt at the NSW Open (tied 10) feeling pretty good. 

"I like this golf course and the biggest thing was, I reset and made a nice birdie on 12.

"It hasn't sunk in yet in all honesty, but it helps relax me a lot because it's quite a nice prize.

"But I've got a job to do this week and the focus doesn't change."Â