Els tunes up for Masters with second straight win

Two strokes clear with four holes remaining when the tournament was forced into a fifth day because of a thunderstorm, Els limped home with four successive pars at Bay Hill to hold off his challengers.

The smooth-swinging South African, who earlier this month claimed his first Tour victory in two years at the elite WGC-CA Championship, closed with a one-under-par 71 for an 11-under total of 277.

South Korea-born American Kevin Na, who trailed Els by just one with a hole to play, bogeyed the last for a 69 to share second place with Italian Edoardo Molinari, who also signed off with a 69.

"It was a hard struggle today," said Els after sinking an eight-foot par putt at the 18th to secure the winner's cheque for $1.08 million. "I really earned this one ... and two wins (this season] is definitely special.

"It was a really great test for the mind the last 24 hours, it was really pretty tough for me. I'm a guy who puts a lot of pressure on myself... but I've always been like that.

"I kind of limped home here today but the work I have put in started paying off, and obviously my short game is good," added Els after winning his 18th PGA Tour title. "When it mattered, I got the ball up and down."

After early morning rain had delayed the resumption of the final round by two hours, three-times major winner Els did well to par his first hole, the 15th, after missing the green to the left with his approach.

The 40-year-old also found himself in trouble at the par-5 16th where he found the right rough off the tee and had to punch out a low second shot from under trees on to the fairway.

From there, he struck his third to 30 feet and coolly two-putted to save par.

Els got up and down from a buried lie in a greenside bunker at the par-three 17th to stay one stroke in front, until Na bogeyed the par-four last after driving into rough to slip two behind.

With the tournament firmly in his grasp, Els struck a perfect tee shot down the 18th fairway but he pulled his approach left into greenside rough from where he again nervelessly got up and down to save par.

"Just to try and stay away from a lot of trouble here was tough to do," said Els, who was also champion here in 1998. "This place tests your ability and it (winning) gives me a lot of confidence. If you win here, you can feel comfortable at majors.

"I would love to have played this tournament right before Augusta," added the South African, who will compete in this week's Houston Open before heading to Augusta National for next week's US Masters, the year's opening major.

"I think he's going to be tough at Augusta," Palmer said after greeting Els behind the 18th green. The win put Els atop the PGA Tour money list with more than $3 million and he moves to No. 7 in the world.

Molinari, meanwhile, once more overtakes his brother Francesco – fourth in the Andalucian Open yesterday – on the world rankings and has given his Ryder Cup chances another big boost.

The two World Cup winners are both in the running for debuts in September and will link up at Augusta next week for the opening major of the year.

Five players qualified for The Masters by being among the world's top 50 the week before the first major of the year. South African Louis Oosthuizen did it dramatically by capturing the Andalucian Open on Sunday – he had to win it – to join compatriot Charl Schwartzel, Spaniard Alvaro Quiros, Korean KJ Choi and Thai Thongchai Jaidee.