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Ernie Els produced a superb final round of 65 to emerge victorious at the South African Airways Open, overhauling overnight leader Trevor Immelman to triumph by three strokes.
The victory means that Els has maintained his proud record of having a won a tournament somewhere in the world every year since 1991.
The world number eight held his nerve well as fellow countryman Immelman - who started the day three clear - struggled to deal with the windy conditions early on.
Els shot birdies at two and five to close to within one of the leader and the tournament then swung decisively in his favour at the par-three sixth.
Els put his tee shot to within four foot to all but guarantee another birdie, while Immelman saw his shot end in the bunker after being caught by the wind.
Having chipped out to around eight foot, he missed his par putt and when Els tapped home his, formality the lead had changed hands.
Things got worse for Immelman as he surrendered another at eight to fall two behind and although he closed the gap with birdie at 11, Els made what proved the decisive move as he picked up shots at 12 and 13 to open up a three-shot cushion.
Both men birdied the par-five 15th, but any lingering doubts were put to bed as Els picked up another shot on his rival at 16 to pull four clear with only two to play.
Indeed, by that stage Immelman was coming under threat for second from Swede Patrik Sjoland who had picked up four shots over the course of his round to move to within one of the South African at 19-under.
Sjoland briefly moved into a tie for second as he birdied the final par-five at 17, but Immelman re-established his advantage by doing likewise and secured runner-up spot with a par down the last.
Els, who also birdied 17, could afford the luxury of a dropped shot at 18 as he missed a ten-foot par putt, but joy was etched on his face as he tapped home to secure the title for a fourth time, the first since 1998.
Behind Sjoland in third, South African Darren Fichardt fired a fine 68 to take fourth on 16-under, while a group of three players were a further shot adrift - home duo Retief Goosen and Louis Oosthuizen and England's Andrew Raitt, who finished as the leading Briton.
Two more Englishmen, Lee Westwood and Gary Lockerbie, finished on 14-under.
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Source: BBC Sport |
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