RELATED STORIES Round 4: Ernie Els finally earns a win in 2006 Round 3: Immelman takes lead with record round Round 2: Patrik Sjoland vaults into lead with 64 Round 1: Ernie Els shares opening day lead Lee Westwood upbeat about South African Open chances NEWS AND TOUR HEADLINES Euro: Luke Donald defends title, reclaims No.1 PGA: Zach Johnson wins despite final hole penalty Champions: Chapman coasts to career best win Caddie injury hurting Lee Westwood Severe test lined up for Senior PGA Championship COMPETITIONS, GIFTS AND OFFERS WIN 2 nights/3 rds at The Vale Resort £10,000 of Teeofftimes prizes in April! WIN Healthspan Supplements WIN tickets to the National Golf Show! Open Champion Tom Watson's DVD Get the Open Fairways card for just £59!

Ernie Els finally earns a win in 2006

Ernie Els shot a 7-under 65 Sunday to beat Trevor Immelman by three strokes at the South African Open.

Els had eight birdies and a bogey to finish the final round at 24-under 264. It was the South African's first win of 2006.

"My wife needs a lot of credit. I've been a bear with a sore head this year," Els said. "I've been working harder than ever and felt like I was going backwards. It's been a tough year for me and my family. So this win is huge for me at this stage of my career. I don't think it's really even sunk in yet."

Immelman (71) started the day with a three-stroke lead, but had bogeys on the sixth and eighth holes. The South African rebounded with three birdies on the last nine holes, but Els had five.

"My game plan was to draw level with him through nine and see what happens, but as it turned out I was two ahead through nine," Els said.

Patrik Sjoland, who led at the tournament's halfway mark, shot a 67 to finish third at 268, and Darren Fichardt (68) was fourth at 272. Retief Goosen (70) earned a share of fifth place, and Lee Westwood (70) was tied for eighth.

Els said he needed motivation to get back to his best.

"I feel I've still got a lot to offer the game and a lot of goals to achieve," Els said. "The way I played in this final round will give me a lot of confidence in the majors next year, so hopefully this is the little step I needed."

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