The final event on the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series schedule saw Austin Bautista lead by three after Round 1 before Bittle unleashed a birdie barrage in Sunday’s second round.

Six strokes back at the start of the day, Bittle began with three straight birdies and made three in a row again around the turn, playing his first 10 holes in eight-under par.

That brought him level at the top of the leaderboard and he resisted the temptation to go for the green at the short par-4 12th.

He made par there and bogey on 13 but birdies on 15 and 17 for a round of nine-under 63 and 10-under total to finish three strokes clear of Queensland’s Gavin Fairfax (68) with Justin Warren (65), George Worrall (69) and Andrew Kelly (66) sharing third spot.

“You never know quite what you’re going to have before you tee off,” Bittle said of his Round 2 mindset.

“I managed to be six-under through nine to start the day and that put me tied with the overnight leader at seven (under).

“I figured that if I could get a couple more that you never know what might happen.

“I didn’t really change my game-plan throughout the day, I try not to do that. You’re always trying to play the best you can and if the game-plan changes under a certain situation then you can always put not quite a great swing on it or play a bit too aggressive.”

Winner of a $100,000 BMW courtesy of a hole-in-one at TPS Murray River, Bittle confirmed he would cash that in to fund his golf for the next few years.

Also front of mind is a big finish at The National starting Thursday as he seeks to avoid a return visit to Qualifying School.

Currently 64th on the Order of Merit, Bittle is eyeing off a top 10 at The National Golf Club to move inside the top 50.

“I’m in a position where a good week will let me avoid Q School,” said Bittle, whose best finish this season on the main tour is a tie for 12th at the NZ PGA Championship.

“I’ve had a few good rounds in the past month but I’ve only been able to put one together each week.

“If I can string two, maybe even three next week then I could be in with a look come Sunday.”

A tie for 19th was enough for Brisbane’s Tim Hart to clinch the adidas PGA Pro-Am Series Order of Merit from Matthew Millar and Brett Rankin.

Final scores