Home favourite Ernie Els took his fourth SAA Open title in style, carding a final-round 65 to end on 24 under and set a new scoring record for the tournament at the Humewood Golf Club in Port Elizabeth.

After starting the day three shots behind overnight leader Trevor Immelman, Els eventually won by three clear shots - even though he bogeyed the last hole - to take the title at the world's second oldest Open.

In doing so he won his first title of 2006, at his last chance, and ensured that he has won at least one tournament every year since 1991.

Immelman finished second after a disappointing 73, but the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year was at least able to keep charging Swede Patrik Sjoland out of second place. Sjoland ended on 20 under, a shot behind Immelman.

Els' joy at finally breaking his duck was plain to see as he sprayed champagne all over the press contingent to celebrate after coming off the course.

"I had to go out there and play positive," Els admitted, "I didn't really have much choice, especially with Trevor carding a 63 on Saturday.

"I don't know, but on the range on Saturday night I found something in my swing and I was very comfortable. I was glad to see a breeze here when I arrived (on Sunday) and it added a little more to the game."

Els added that he had adopted a matchplay strategy which paid off handsomely.

"My game plan was to draw level by the ninth hole and as it turned out I was already ahead by then.

"I was hitting a number of good shots but not getting the birdies until I sunk a putt on 12 and that made me a lot more confident."

Immelman shrugged his shoulders afterwards and gave credit to Els, who he said was a very worthy champion.

"I tried my best, but it was simply not my day," Immelman said afterwards.

"There are a lot of positives that I will take out of this. I have had a great weekend and posted a few good scores and this is definitely great preparation for the PGA Tour next year.

"I was coming out to shoot in the 60s, so it wasn't as if I was trying to protect a lead. I wanted to play some good golf out there. But at the end it wasn't good enough against a guy of his calibre."

South African Darren Fichardt carded a final-round 68 to sneak into fourth place on 16 under, while first-round leader Andrew Raitt managed to hold on to have a share of fifth place with world number five Retief Goosen and young upstart Louis Oosthuizen.

The much-anticipated duel between Els and overnight leader Immelman did not appear after the latter struggled in the late-morning wind, while Els was on song.

Immelman started three shots up after a course record-63 in the third round, but when the wind picked up it seemed he did not have quite the same Midas touch as he did a day earlier.

Els, who on Saturday said he was looking to overhaul Tiger Woods in the next three years, was quickly off the mark on the first really windy morning in the tournament.

The 'Big Easy' had picked up birdies on two and five to close the gap to one stroke before a fatal error by Immelman on the sixth allowed the blond former world number one to take the lead, and subsequently control of the tournament.

Els put his tee shot within four feet of the pin on the par three as he upped the ante. Immelman by contrast caught a gust of wind that sent his ball right onto the lip of the green and rolled off into the bunker.

Immelman's chip onto the green rolled some eight feet past the hole and he two-putted to take the bogey.

Els, as calm as the weather on the first three days, birdied to move into the lead with a two-shot swing on the hole.

From there on it was simply all Els as the tournament built up to its climax.

Els carried on relatively quietly for the next five holes but was stung back into action by a birdie on 11 from Immelman which cut the lead to one.

Els then birdied 12 and 13 to take him three out in front once again.

Three straight birdies between 14 and 16 sealed it as Els cruised home to a cheering crowd and Immelman never had a chance to catch him, despite birdies on 15 and 17.

Els eventually sent his approach on the 18th onto the lip of the bunker and his chip was short, leaving himself two putts - and a bogey - to clinch the title.

But he admitted that it was as good as he could have played.

"I can't really do much better than this," he said with a smile, "It was just a pity about the last hole.

"I had a strange day in that I first had to catch up, then did, and then had to play aggressively while protecting a lead. If Trevor sunk some putts today it could have been very different."

Collated final round scores and totals

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

264 Ernie Els (Rsa) 67 66 66 65

267 Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 67 66 63 71

268 Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 68 64 69 67

272 Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 72 67 65 68

273 Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 71 65 70 67, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 69 66 68 70, Andrew Raitt 67 68 68 70

274 Gary Lockerbie 72 66 70 65, Lee Westwood 68 68 68 70

275 Robert Rock 70 68 69 68, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 71 68 68 68, Lee James 71 69 67 68, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 71 69 65 70

276 Jaco van Zyl (Rsa) 71 65 72 68

277 Ross Fisher 70 69 66 70

278 Richard Finch 71 71 70 66, Justin Walters 73 67 61 67, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 69 68 73 68, Lee Slattery 71 70 69 68, Bradford Vaughn (Rsa) 70 68 71 69, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 75 65 69 69, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 73 69 66 70, James Kamte (Rsa) 69 68 69 72

279 Sam Walker 72 69 72 66, Benn Barham 71 71 68 69, Alan McLean 69 68 71 71

280 Nic Henning (Rsa) 71 68 70 71, Keith Horne (Rsa) 73 68 68 71, Carl Suneson (Spa) 67 76 65 72, Edward Rush 70 67 70 73

281 James Heath 70 70 74 67, Mattias Eliasson (Swe) 75 69 70 67, Chris Swanepoel (Rsa) 73 70 70 68, Juan Parron (Spa) 71 72 70 68, Eirik Johansen (Swe) 75 66 71 69, Tongoona Charamba (Zim) 75 69 67 70, Des Terblanche (Rsa) 68 70 71 72, Steve Basson (Rsa) 71 69 69 72, David Frost (Rsa) 72 69 68 72

282 Mark Murless (Rsa) 72 71 70 69, Andrew McLardy (Rsa) 71 71 70 70, Chris Williams (Rsa) 72 70 70 70, Ulrich van den Bergh (Rsa) 72 70 69 71, Branden Grace (Rsa) 73 71 67 71, Warren Bennett 73 69 68 72, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 69 67 73 73, Oliver Fisher 77 67 65 73, Raphael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 72 69 66 75

283 Michiel Bothma (Rsa) 75 69 72 67, Andre Cruse (Rsa) 72 70 73 68, Adilson da Silva (Bra) 71 71 73 68, Desvonde Botes (Rsa) 73 68 72 70, Ian Hutchings (Rsa) 73 70 70 70, Hennie Otto (Rsa) 70 73 68 72, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 70 69 66 78

284 Johan Axgren (Swe) 72 70 72 70, Oliver Wilson 74 69 71 70, Mathias Gronberg (Swe) 72 70 70 72, Phillip Archer 75 68 69 72, Sam Little 73 71 68 72, Andrew Tampion (Aus) 72 67 62 73, Ross Wellington (Rsa) 76 67 67 74

285 Alessandro Tadini (Ita) 74 70 71 70, Divan van den Heever (Rsa) 71 73 70 71, Trevor Moore (Rsa) 71 69 73 72, Sean Farrell (Zim) 75 69 69 72, Gareth Davies 69 75 69 72, Nigel Edwards 73 68 71 73, Alexandre Rocha (Bra) 74 70 67 74, Nico van Rensburg 70 70 70 75, Michael Lamb (Zim) 76 68 66 75

286 Dion Fourie (Rsa) 72 70 73 71, Steve van Vuuren (Rsa) 71 65 77 73, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 71 69 73 73, Gregory Havret (Fra) 73 68 71 74, David Carter 74 69 69 74

287 Garry Houston 71 72 76 68, Julien Foret (Fra) 75 69 74 69, Joachim Backstrom (Swe) 72 72 73 70, Grant Muller (Rsa) 73 71 72 71, Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 76 68 71 72

288 Christiaan Basson (Rsa) 73 70 73 72, Birgir Hafthorsson (Isl) 74 69 70 75

289 Tony Johnstone (Zim) 72 72 74 71, Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 71 71 75 72

290 Anton Haig (Rsa) 75 68 71 76

291 Trevor Fisher Jr (Rsa) 79 65 75 72, Werner Geyer (Rsa) 73 71 74 73

295 Scott Drummond 72 67 70 85

296 Matthew Richardson 74 68 78 76