Ernie Els swept to the top of the Order of Merit after winning his second title in the space of seven days in the £1million Dubai Desert Classic.

Els carded a final-round 69 at the Emirates Golf Club to claim back-to-back titles for the first time since 1997 following his first victory on the USPGA Tour for more than 18 months last Sunday.

The South African's 16-under-par total of 272 gave him a four-shot victory over Ryder Cup Swede Niclas Fasth, with another Swede, Carl Pettersson, a shot further back and England's Brian Davis in fourth on nine under.

The victory was in fact Els' third in a row in strokeplay tournaments, for which he is a collective 50-under-par.

He won the Heineken Classic in Melbourne on the European Tour, before playing in the World Matchplay in California a fortnight ago, followed by wins in the Genuity Championship in Florida and here.

It also means he is the first player to win the Dubai Desert Classic twice, his second win coming eight years after setting the course record of 61 on his way to a six-shot win over Greg Norman.

Next up will be two tournaments in America after an 18-hour flight this evening, and the build-up to the first Major of the year, the US Masters at Augusta.

"So far so good," said Els. "I've had a really great start to my season with two wins. I'm really enjoying it. It's already a good year and let's hope it gets better.

"I'd like to keep it going for another two weeks and then I have two weeks off before the Masters.

"I played it a couple of weeks ago and saw the changes to the course. I have form and there is no reason why I should not play to it. I should be in with a chance."

The margin of victory was comfortable in the end, but Els admitted Fasth had given him a real scare as he wiped out the 32-year-old's three-shot overnight advantage within seven holes with an eagle on the third and birdie on the seventh.

But the turning point came on the eighth as Fasth ran up a dreadful triple-bogey seven. His drive found a wiry bush to the right of the fairway, and his attempted recovery flew way left over the fairway and into the desert.

From there it took two more to get on the green and three putts, and suddenly Fasth was three behind again, the gap becoming four as Els birdied the ninth.

"He was really putting a lot of pressure on me," Els added. "I don't think he missed a shot in the first seven holes, he played awesome. If he had not made that seven he could easily have been sat here."

To his credit Fasth refused to buckle, matching Els' birdie on the 10th and picking up further birdies on the 12th and 13th to halve the deficit, but Els had been fired up by a "crazy" missed putt on the fourth from less than two feet.

"That really got me angry. I almost whacked myself with the putter," he said.

Ultimately an Els birdie on the 16th while Fasth's bogey ended any doubt about the outcome, and not even bouts of extremely rare rain - Dubai only has rain five days a year on average - could prevent the double US Open champion from sealing victory.

Fasth was disappointed to have missed out on his second European Tour title, but enhanced his reputation further ahead of September's Ryder Cup.

"Before I came here I felt like I was in good form, I felt it was my tournament but it wasn't to be," said the 29-year-old, second in the Open to David Duval at Royal Lytham last year.

"Today I gave it a good effort and it took me seven holes to catch him before obviously the disaster on the eighth.

"It was disappointing but I really tried to give it another go after that and I was pretty proud of myself for getting back and pushing him again and we certainly had a match going until the 16th.

"I didn't knock in enough putts maybe but of course it is hard to take a triple bogey and still win but I did, I'll get it next time.

"After what happened on the 16th I pretty much gave up on the title, I was more concerned about watching what Carl was doing. I didn't go for the pin on the 17th and 18th because it wouldn't have been nice not to finish second. I certainly thought I deserved that."

Meanwhile Davis, 27, was initially disappointed not to make more than one birdie on the back nine but can reflect on an excellent finish in his first tournament since pulling out of the Dunhill Championship in South Africa in January with food poisoning.

"I should have been at least one or two better but then I've hardly played for three months and I was having trouble controlling my adrenalin today," said Davis, the 2000 Spanish Open champion.

"I'm pleased to be up there but feel it should have been a higher finish."

British amateur champion Michael Hoey finished in a tie for 12th after an impressive performance in the build-up to his Masters debut next month.

The 23-year-old from Belfast, who will turn professional after playing at Augusta, carded a final-round 71 to outscore the likes of Nick Faldo, Ian Woosnam and Padraig Harrington.

Collated scores and totals in the final round of the Dubai Desert Classic, Emirates Golf Club, Dubai:

(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72, (x) denotes amateurs)

272 Ernie Els (Rsa) 68 68 67 69 (£166,660)

276 Niclas Fasth (Swe) 68 69 69 70 (£111,110)

277 Carl Pettersson (Swe) 70 73 65 69 (£62,600)

279 Brian Davis 71 70 71 67 (£50,000)

281 Gary Evans 70 71 72 68, Charlie Wi (Kor) 68 67 77 69 (£38,700 each)

282 Mathias Gronberg (Swe) 72 70 71 69, Bradley Dredge 74 70 69 69, Darren Clarke 72 73 68 69, Simon Dyson 71 68 73 70, Andrew Oldcorn 75 66 69 72

283 Anders Forsbrand (Swe) 74 66 75 68, Sam Torrance 68 71 75 69, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 74 70 69 70, (x) Michael Hoey 74 68 70 71, Rolf Muntz (Ned) 70 75 67 71, Klas Eriksson (Swe) 72 74 66 71, Greg Owen 71 70 70 72, Paul Broadhurst 69 70 71 73

284 Pierre Fulke (Swe) 69 73 74 68, Gregory Havret (Fra) 69 71 74 70, Olle Karlsson (Swe) 68 73 73 70, Padraig Harrington 70 75 68 71, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 71 67 74 72, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 67 73 71 73, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 71 71 68 74

285 Richard Bland 70 72 74 69, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 75 70 71 69, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 74 70 71 70, Richard Green (Aus) 70 72 72 71, John Bickerton 69 68 73 75

286 Anders Hansen (Den) 72 72 74 68, Steve Webster 74 70 73 69, Soren Hansen (Den) 71 72 73 70, Lucas Parsons (Aus) 72 71 73 70, Mark Foster 72 72 72 70, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 71 70 74 71, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 67 76 72 71, Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 72 72 68 74

287 Tom Gillis (USA) 75 71 72 69, David Carter 73 70 74 70, Desvonde Botes (Rsa) 71 73 73 70, Nick Faldo 72 73 72 70, Barry Lane 73 73 71 70, Roger Chapman 73 73 70 71

288 Scott Gardiner (Aus) 72 73 72 71, Phillip Price 73 71 72 72, Jean Hugo (Rsa) 73 71 72 72, Adam Scott (Aus) 73 72 71 72, Tobias Dier (Ger) 72 68 75 73, Ian Woosnam 73 68 74 73, Roger Wessels (Rsa) 75 69 71 73, Eduardo Romero (Arg) 70 74 71 73, Anthony Wall 70 70 74 74, Nick Dougherty 71 71 72 74

289 Christopher Hanell (Swe) 72 71 77 69, David Park 70 70 76 73, Gary Emerson 74 71 71 73, Raymond Russell 74 72 70 73, Justin Rose 72 71 72 74, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 73 72 69 75, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 72 70 70 77, Sven Struver (Ger) 69 72 70 78

290 Stephen Dodd 70 76 73 71, Stephen Scahill (Nzl) 70 74 73 73, Johan Skold (Swe) 72 74 70 74, Ian Poulter 71 69 75 75, David Howell 74 69 72 75

291 Christophe Pottier (Fra) 73 73 77 68, Paul Eales 72 74 73 72

292 Marten Olander (Swe) 70 72 77 73

293 Peter Baker 74 71 73 75

294 Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 71 73 80 70, Jamie Spence 72 72 78 72, Markus Brier (Aut) 72 74 76 72, Andrew Pitts (USA) 73 71 77 73

295 Marc Farry (Fra) 73 73 76 73, Henrik Bjornstad (Nor) 72 72 76 75, Andrew Butterfield 70 76 72 77

296 Andrew Coltart 73 73 75 75

297 Ian Hutchings (Rsa) 73 71 76 77