Ernie Els admitted to not being quite sure how he managed to pull his third consecutive Heineken Classic victory out of the bag after an astonishing collapse at Royal Melbourne.

After three days watching Els dominating the field the bookmakers had stopped taking bets on the South African. Only a major slump in form could have denied him a hat-trick of titles.

But on an incredible final day it very nearly did as Els lost his eight stroke lead in just nine dramatic holes before recovering to edge out Adam Scott by one shot in a dogfight down the home straight.

In the end, Els finished a record-breaking week on 20-under-par to retain his title, but had to wait until Scott's final putt of the day to be certain of a wire-to-wire victory.

The 23-year-old Australian, who had refused to be shaken as Els put together a run of four birdies in five holes on the back nine, was putting on the 18th to force a play-off but left his birdie effort inches shy.

Scott finished on 19-under-par and Els, after opening rounds of 60, 66 and 68, was the deserved champion. He just did not seal it in the manner anyone could have expected.

"I don't know how I brought it back, but I did. It was like I had never played this game before on the first nine and then I played the back nine as well as I could. It was a tough day," Els said.

"It's a win and a record score (for the course). I think on the back nine, when it really counted I put my head down and I played.

"It is definitely not the way I planned it. I just had to adjust on the back nine to the emotions going through me and the way the tournament was going.

"When I look back on it in a day or two I will feel good about it. Right now I am just happy it is over."

Scott's fellow Australian Peter Fowler was third on 15-under, Sweden's Peter Hanson one shot further back in fourth place.

Stephen Gallacher of Scotland finished tied for fifth with New Zealand's Michael Campbell on 13-under-par and always relishes this time of year.

"I always seem to do well in Australia," he said. "I am hitting the ball well and I am very happy with my game."

At one point today, Els had no idea what his game was doing as he lost that eight shot lead as four bogeys and a triple bogey sent him tumbling back onto 16-under.

Suddenly Els was level with Scott. It was the first time since the 11th hole of the opening round Els had lost the outright lead and he was beginning to despair.

"You're thinking crazy stuff. It was like I had never played this game before on the first nine," he said.

"It was kind of laughable out there. You're a little bit off your game and every time I was off, I found myself in an impossible spot, I had an impossible lie."

Thoughts at that point immediately turned to the 1998 Johnnie Walker Classic, when Tiger Woods charged from eight shots behind on the final day to beat Els in a play-off.

Today, though, Els managed to arrest the slide and carded four crucial birdies to secure a two-shot cushion on 20-under-par by the 14th hole.

That was eventually Els' winning total, but Scott kept the pressure on, and sunk a 25 foot putt on the 17th to move within one shot.

Not for the first time today, Els was left smiling ruefully as the tournament came down to the final hole, and then the final putt.

"He did everything perfectly today," said Els.

"He played a very mature game, I made the mistakes and he played a mature game. He hung in there. He is a great temperament and a great swing. He has a big future."

England's Greg Owen had the round of the day with a six-under-par 66, which included two eagles, to finish on 12-under-par for the week.

Ian Poulter finished on 10-under while Sweden's Robert Karlsson, who also carded a 66, was eight-under for the tournament.

Peter Baker could not match yesterday's stunning round of 65 and dropped back to six-under with a 77 while Nick Faldo, runner-up here last year, carded a 73 today to end four-under for the week.

Greg Norman was even for the tournament, Sandy Lyle one over par after his 79.

Collated final round totals (Aus unless stated, par 72):

268 Ernie Els (Rsa) 60 66 68 74

269 Adam Scott 66 68 68 67

273 Peter Fowler 66 68 69 70

274 Peter Hanson (Swe) 67 70 66 71

275 Michael Campbell (Nzl) 64 72 69 70, Stephen Gallacher (Sco) 68 68 69 70

276 Gareth Paddison (Nzl) 67 68 67 74, Mahal Pearce 65 70 69 72, Greg Owen (Eng) 68 72 70 66, Paul Sheehan 66 74 65 71

277 Peter O'Malley 66 69 68 74, Peter Senior 70 67 70 70

278 Ian Poulter (Eng) 68 68 73 69, Richard Green 66 67 76 69

279 Joakim Haeggman (Swe) 71 68 68 72

280 Scott Gardiner 69 67 70 74, James Kingston (Rsa) 71 67 69 73, Thomas Levet (Fra) 71 68 72 69, Stuart Appleby 69 73 68 70, Nick O'Hern 70 69 71 70, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 72 69 73 66

281 Gary Murphy (Irl) 71 70 67 73, Terry Price 72 68 72 69

282 Peter Baker (Eng) 69 71 65 77, Craig Spence 67 72 69 74, Matthew Ecob 68 73 68 73, Gary Evans (Eng) 67 72 72 71, Grant Dodd 68 72 70 72, David Howell (Eng) 68 69 73 72, Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 70 70 73 69, Craig Jones 72 70 69 71

283 Craig Parry 67 73 70 73, Bradley Hughes 70 70 71 72, John Bickerton (Eng) 70 72 71 70, Jean Van de Velde (Fra) 69 72 68 74, Nick Flanagan 67 71 71 74, Nick Dougherty (Eng) 70 70 70 73, Euan Walters 70 73 69 71

284 David McKenzie 69 68 76 71, Nick Faldo (Eng) 68 73 70 73, Jamie Donaldson (Wal) 72 67 75 70, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 69 72 73 70, Klas Eriksson (Swe) 72 69 71 72, Michael Long (Nzl) 68 72 70 74, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 67 73 70 74, Paul Casey (Eng) 68 71 71 74, Gary Orr (Sco) 71 71 72 70, Barry Lane (Eng) 70 69 71 74, Stephen Collins 68 75 69 72, Paul Lawrie (Sco) 73 70 65 76, Miles Tunnicliff (Eng) 69 68 75 72, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 74 69 66 75, Simon Khan (Eng) 70 68 75 71

285 Christian Cevaer (Fra) 69 72 72 72, Steve Conran 71 72 69 73, Brett Rumford 69 74 68 74, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 71 70 70 74, Adrian Percey 74 68 70 73, Adam Groom 69 71 72 73, Julien Clement (Swi) 71 72 68 74

286 Jarrod Moseley 73 69 71 73, Nathan Green 68 70 77 71, Wade Ormsby 65 75 72 74, Raymond Russell (Sco) 69 72 71 74, Wayne Grady 72 69 71 74

287 Simon Wakefield (Eng) 70 73 71 73, Martin Maritz (Rsa) 70 71 75 71

288 Eddie Lee 70 73 71 74, Martin Lemesurier (Eng) 72 67 72 77, Tobias Dier (Ger) 65 75 73 75, Gavin Coles 71 72 74 71, Greg Norman 71 72 70 75, Mark Foster (Eng) 69 73 71 75

289 Sandy Lyle (Sco) 70 73 67 79, Scott Laycock 70 73 73 73

290 Marcus Cain 70 71 76 73, Iain Pyman (Eng) 69 74 77 70

291 Craig Carmichael 65 73 75 78

292 Andrew Buckle 71 68 73 80

293 Simon Nash (USA) 74 69 72 78, Scott Drummond (Sco) 69 72 74 78, David Diaz 71 70 73 79

294 Stuart Bouvier 72 71 73 78

296 Paul Marantz 70 73 79 74