Ernie Els rode his luck before cruising to a sixth win of the year in the Omega European Masters.

Els carded a final round 65 for a 17-under total of 267 at Crans-sur-Sierre to claim the £185,000 first prize and increase his lead at the top of the Order of Merit.

The world number two finished six shots ahead of New Zealand's Michael Campbell with overnight leader Eduardo Romero of Argentina a shot behind in third.

Romero was hoping to become the oldest ever winner on tour at the grand old age of 49, but was the only player in the field not to card a single birdie as he struggled to a closing 74.

Defending champion Robert Karlsson, Italy's Emanuele Canonica and Scot Andrew Coltart were the first players to earn Ryder Cup qualifying points in joint fourth on nine under.

Els' fourth win on the European Tour this season was not achieved without two major slices of good fortune however, and the South African was grateful to one spectator in particular.

A wayward drive on the 12th hole was heading into trouble when it struck the spectator on the head and bounced back on to the fairway.

A huge bump was quickly visibly on the man's forehead and Els winced visibly when he saw the damage he had caused. "I saw him on the course and said I'd see him afterwards and buy him a beer," said Els, who was presented with the champion's red jacket by model Cindy Crawford.

"I haven't seen him yet but if he e-mails me I'll definitely send him something because he really helped me as the ball was heading way left."

By then Els was three shots clear of the field after wiping out his two-shot overnight deficit with a stunning opening salvo of four straight birdies.

His first stroke of good luck then came at the fifth when his second shot clipped the trees in front of him and ended up in the woods and resting next to a bench.

He was entitled to a free drop from there and then claimed further relief because advertising boards where between him and the green, eventually ending up with a clear shot to the hole.

"I had at least three drops and pitched to about 30 feet but holed the putt for an adventurous par," admitted Els. "It took ages to play that hole and the fourth where Robert's ball almost went out of bounds and a lady picked it up.

"I lost a bit of rhythm after that but putted really well today and it's a special win, my first on the continent."

Els is now hot favourite to finish the year as European number one for the first time but still intends to miss the season-ending Volvo Masters at Valderrama as it does not fit into his busy schedule.

"My basic stance is the same," added Els, who increased his lead over Darren Clarke at the top of the Order of Merit to £420,000.

"Darren wasn't in the race until he won a million dollars at the NEC Invitational, I've won four times but they together maybe just add up to a million.

"There is still a lot to play for and a lot can happen. I wish the World Matchplay would count toward the money list (he has won it four times on his doorstep at Wentworth), but if I play the way I should I should be fine."

Victory for one of the European players this week would have seen them earn more than a quarter of the money with which Phil Price secured the last Ryder Cup qualifying place two years ago.

But with non-Europeans filling the top three places, Karlsson, Coltart and Canonica earnt just 67,946 points each as opposed to a potential 266,660.

Sergio Garcia, hoping to qualify automatically for the team this time and free up a wild card pick for captain Bernhard Langer, had to settle for 18,920 points (one point equals one euro won) after a final round of 70 left him in joint 19th.

And Colin Montgomerie, confident of qualifying via both the points table and world ranking list, collected only 14,480 after a closing 71 gave him a share of 26th.

The Scot cut an unhappy figure for most of the week, mainly due to the news that club suppliers Hogan, with whom Montgomerie signed a multi-million pound deal last year, were being bought out by Callaway.

Montgomerie switched from Callaway to Hogan after the Ryder Cup and is understood to be very concerned about what the takeover will mean for his future.

Collated scores and totals in final round of Omega European Masters, Crans-sur-Sierre (Gbr&Irl unless stated, Par 71):

(x) denotes amateurs

267 Ernie Els (Rsa) 65 69 68 65 (£185,730pds)

273 Michael Campbell (Nzl) 67 67 73 66 (£123,817)

274 Eduardo Romero (Arg) 66 67 67 74 (£69,761)

275 Andrew Coltart 70 72 66 67, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 70 68 67 70, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 65 67 71 72 (£47,324 each)

276 Peter Hedblom (Swe) 67 68 71 70

277 Paul Eales 66 69 75 67, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 69 69 72 67, David Lynn 70 69 69 69, Jarrod Moseley (Aus) 71 68 68 70, Paul Casey 68 70 67 72, Brian Davis 70 66 68 73, David Howell 68 69 67 73

278 Nathan Fritz (USA) 70 66 74 68, Marten Olander (Swe) 70 70 70 68, Marc Farry (Fra) 66 73 66 73, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 69 67 68 74

279 Mattias Eliasson (Swe) 68 71 72 68, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 67 70 72 70, Mark Foster 71 70 67 71, Erol Simsek (Ger) 70 70 67 72

280 Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 68 74 69 69, Richard Bland 67 71 71 71, Henrik Bjornstad (Nor) 66 72 71 71

281 Shaun Webster 69 72 70 70, Colin Montgomerie 70 68 72 71, Matthew Cort 68 71 71 71, Andrew Oldcorn 74 68 68 71, Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 68 66 75 72, Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 67 68 73 73, Alavaro Salto (Spa) 71 70 67 73, Miles Tunnicliff 70 69 68 74

282 Ronan Rafferty 69 71 73 69, Roger Chapman 71 68 72 71, Eduardo de la Riva (Spa) 70 70 70 72, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 71 67 71 73, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 71 64 73 74

283 Christian Cevaer (Fra) 71 71 72 69, Mathias Gronberg (Swe) 75 67 72 69, Iain Pyman 71 70 72 70, Jesus Maria Arruti (Spa) 72 70 71 70, Simon Dyson 69 69 74 71, Simon Hurd 69 73 70 71, Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 73 67 71 72, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 69 72 68 74

284 Jamie Spence 68 70 76 70, Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 70 71 73 70, Barry Lane 68 74 72 70, Henrik Nystrom (Swe) 73 68 72 71, Benn Barham 72 69 71 72, Fredrik Andersson (Swe) 72 70 69 73, Joakim Haeggman (Swe) 69 73 69 73

285 Nick Dougherty 73 65 76 71, Philip Walton 71 69 74 71, Soren Hansen (Den) 72 69 73 71, Bradford Vaughan (Rsa) 69 69 74 73, Malcolm Mackenzie 70 72 70 73, Hennie Otto (Rsa) 72 68 71 74, Adam Mednick (Swe) 68 70 72 75, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 67 73 70 75

286 Titch Moore (Rsa) 72 69 74 71, Paul Lawrie 68 72 74 72, Tobias Dier (Ger) 72 70 72 72, Ian Garbutt 72 68 72 74, Gustavo Rojas (Arg) 70 72 69 75, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 67 74 69 76

287 Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 71 71 71 74

288 Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 69 71 68 80

289 Alessandro Tadini (Ita) 67 72 78 72

291 Klas Eriksson (Swe) 70 71 79 71, Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 70 72 74 75

293 Alexandre Chopard (Swi) 73 68 78 74

294 Gary Emerson 70 72 73 79

295 Miguel Angel Martin (Spa) 67 74 75 79