The in-form Spaniard thrust his famous golfing surname to the top of the pack on Thursday, Garcia seven-under through 15 holes and two clear before officials blew the horn with electrical storms approaching.
He'll return on Friday two clear of Daniel Gale, who won a $300,000 BMW thanks to an ace on the 11th hole and was five-under through 11 holes.
Garcia arrived fresh off a victory in China alongside two other top-five finishes in his last five starts.
With two par-fives remaining in his round a lower score threatens when he does resume, but even with preferred lies in use the official course-record - eight-under 63 - is not under threat.
New Zealand gun Ryan Fox, China's Wenyi Ding, Finland's Tapio Pulkkanen and Anthony Quayle, who had star caddie Steve Williams on his bag, earlier shared the clubhouse lead at four under (67).
Drawcards Adam Scott, who bogeyed the last, and Min Win Loo were a shot back after rounds of 68.
Three-time winner Cameron Smith made a long birdie putt on his last hole to finish two-under, along with defending champion Elvis Smylie.
Marc Leishman and Cam Davis were among a host of afternoon players stranded at two under and face long catch-up days on Friday.
There were two aces with Kazumu Kobori's wedge into the 17th party hole on the money that set the tone for Gale's effort.
Earlier, Smith revealed the relentless work he's undergone in an attempt to rediscover his short game.
Three-time champion Smith, a former world No.2 and major winner without a title in more than two years, woke at 2.45am for his Thursday round and carded a two-under 69 to begin the $2.5 million event.
Smith's sensational putting and chipping shone when he roared home to win the Open in 2022, but the Queenslander - the only player to miss all four major cuts this year - has been searching for that magic ever since.
On Thursday he made 10 one-putts and 26 in total and thought the hard work he'd put in since returning home to Brisbane might be paying off.
"I made a lot of good putts from six-to-eight feet but didn't make anything outside of that all day, so it was good to see that go in," he said of his birdie on the ninth.
"I've had one day off and I haven't hit a lot of balls. I've been doing a lot of chipping and putting, trying to get back into that part of my game, getting comfortable with that and it definitely showed today."
Lee's approach to the final hole hit the flagstick in a rough slice of luck, forcing him to settle for par.
Former world No.1 Scott, a two-time winner of the event before the move back to Brisbane's Royal Queensland five years ago, bogeyed his first and 18th holes.
Lee, who won in 2023, lamented "a good problem" to have when his pinpoint approach hit the flag while Scott indicated his steady approach would be the mode of operation ahead of the weekend.
"It's a tough course to make lots and lots of putts on unless you're putting it close all the time," Scott, chasing his first 72-hole win since February 2020, said of his boyhood club.
"Once you start getting away from the hole, the grain changes, it breaks, there's a lot of movement.
"It's important not to get frustrated."
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