Ernie Els carded a three-under-par 69 during his final round to secure the BMW International Open title on Sunday.
Ernie Els: Wins another title on the European Tour
Els, who finished on 18 under par for the tournament, sunk just one bogey during the final round. That was ultimately the only difference between him and Denmark's Thomas Bjorn, who finished the tournament one stroke behind the winner.
Els produced a flawless front nine, which also featured three birdies. That momentum was briefly stalled at the par-five 11th, where he carded his only bogey for the round. However, The Big Easy maintained his composure for the final seven holes and even finished with a birdie at the par-five 18th.
"It's been wonderful," said Els. "I've had a great week in Germany. We've got to thank BMW obviously for their 25 years of support,
"I've tried a long time to try and win this golf tournament. I really had it going and then I made it tough for myself again.
"Thomas was playing great, he stumbled on 14, I was watching the kid - I played with him yesterday and he looked like he had a great game - but he stumbled as well on the back nine.
"It's great to get my name on this wonderful trophy. Obviously it gives you a lot of confidence. Wire-to-wire you've got the pressure, every night you've got to sleep on it, guys are chasing you. So this is quite a week for me."
Bjorn started his round with three consecutive birdies on the front nine, which was an ominous sign for his South African opponent. However, he too made a blunder at the 11th. Bjorn was still well in
contention despite this; however, the double bogey recorded at the par-four 14th sealed the Dane's fate.
Bjorn carded three birdies down the final stretch, but it was ultimately a case of too little too late for the Dane.
Said Bjorn: "I played well, got off to the start I needed today and got right there in front."
"The thing that's been great this week is the driver and let me down on the back nine.
"I fought all the way to the end, and he hit two very classy shots on the last. When you go up against Ernie, you've got to take it 18 holes to the end and I didn't quite do it today. I'm on a good run of form. I
wanted to try and get myself in the top 20 in The Race to Dubai and top five for The Open, and I'm keeping closer to that and that's my goal over the next couple of weeks. The qualifier takes a lot out of
you, and I'm going to Ireland on a golf course I won on and I'll keep carrying on and fighting hard until I win a golf tournament."
Frenchman Alexander Levy carded a one-under-par 71 for the final round, which ultimately wasn't enough to win the championship. Levy looked particularly promising on the front nine, where he sunk three birdies in four holes. However, all the week's hard work started to unravel on the walk home, where four bogeys ruined his prospects of a title.
Levy eventually finished two shots behind the winner. Germany's Martin Kaymer finished the tournament on 15 under par, despite producing a useful final round. He was joined by Sweden's Alexander Noren, who just wasn't able to develop any momentum on Sunday.
Noren's final round got off to a dismal start, after he recorded bogeys at the fourth and ninth holes.
The misery continued on the par-five 11th, which proved the undoing of many players during the round. While he sunk consecutive birdies at 12 and 13, the Swede subsequently carded another bogey just one hole later. With that his title challenge was well and truly over.
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