Els wins in dramatic finish

South Africa's Ernie Els won the Loch Lomond Invitational by one stroke in a dramatic finish on Saturday after Tom Lehman sent his tee shot on the 18th into the lake.

Els scored a three-under par 68 to end 11-under par, one clear of Lehman and two of defending champion Colin Montgomerie to win a British Open warm-up tournament that was wide open deep into the final day.

His round of 68 meant Els was the only player to post four sub-70 scores and brought him his first title for 17 months.

"It doesn't get much better than this," the twice U.S. Open champion said.

At the halfway mark on Saturday any one of seven players could have won it but as the tension grew, the mistakes came and the lead changed hands seemingly with every hole played.

Els, who began the day joint leader on eight-under with Notah Begay and Lehman, had been the first to make a move with three birdies in the first four holes to reach 11-under.

But he had a disaster on the seventh when, after missing from four feet for a birdie, he missed his return of a few inches to drop a shot. Another miss from four feet on the eighth hauled him back into the pack.

Montgomerie, like most of the field, had an inconsistent round but when he chipped in from 60 yards for an eagle at the par-five 13th and then sunk a 12-footer for birdie on the 14th he was level with Els.

And when Lehman sunk a bunker shot for birdie on 15 it was a three-way split at the top again with a play-off looming.

But Els sunk a a four-footer for birdie on the par-three 17th to edge clear again and when Montgomerie sent his tee shot on the last into a fairway bunker it seemed only Lehman could catch the South African.

Els flirted with danger, sending a straightforward medium iron approach into a greenside bunker, only to splash out to within a foot for a safe par.

Lehman, though, birdied the 17th and needed only a par four on the last to go into a play-off. Inexplicably he sent his drive wild and wide into Loch Lomond and the title was Els's.

"I made some mistakes but brought it round in the end. It was unfortunate for Tom but I'm really pleased," Els said.

"Colin was really pushing and I had to scramble a bit. He made a big run and I was watching him all day, I know how he can play."

Of his 17-month barren spell the world number five said: "I've been close a couple of times but a guy called Tiger has been a bit up on me.

"Hopefully this will give me a bit of confidence for next week." The British Open starts on Thursday.

American Notah Begay, who shared the overnight lead on eight-under, spoiled an impressive front nine with some wild shots on the run home and ended with 72 for seven-under along with Retief Goosen and Australian Stephen Allan.

Nick Faldo's bid for a first title in more than three years disappeared on the first two holes when he dropped three shots and he ended with a 73 for five-under par.

Australian Adam Scott, 20 on Sunday, was right in the hunt at eight-under but finished with four consecutive bogeys.

Swede Mathias Gronberg scored a hole in one at the par-three 17th at the Loch Lomond Invitational on Saturday to scoop $100,000.

Gronberg holed his four iron with the first shot of the day at the 17th on Saturday morning.

Remarkably, fellow Swede Jarmo Sandelin had also aced the hole with the final tee shot of Friday night, but the prize money was available only for the final round. Sponsors Standard Life will donate a further $100,000 to charity.

Gronberg was 15-over par at the time and heading for last place and prize money of around 1,650 pounds ($2,500) but his $100,000 bonus gave him winnings equivalent to finishing sixth.

"I can't stop laughing," he said. "I hit a good four iron and we saw it go in. There were about eight or nine people around the tee, another 10-15 on the green and about 20 on boats on the loch who were going crazy.

"At the time I just wanted to get off the course and go to Ladybank where I will try to qualify for the Open.

"I feel sorry for Jarmo and I'm sure he feels absolutely gutted, but that's golf."

Gronberg said he had a hole in one at last year's Dutch Open but was still waiting for his prize - a bicycle.

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