• Arnold Palmer Invitational, Day Five

Els holds his nerve to reclaim Bay Hill title

Ernie Els is the first player to win two events on the Florida Swing since 2001 © Getty Images

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Ernie Els held off a late challenge from Kevin Na to claim his second consecutive title at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in Florida.

Twelve years after his last victory at Bay Hill, the South African made it two wins in two starts following his victory at the WGC-CA Championship at Doral a fortnight ago. The victory makes him the first player to win two events on the Florida Swing since Tiger Woods in 2001.

Els was forced to play a waiting game when poor weather suspended play on Sunday. When play resumed on Monday, Els had a two-shot advantage over Na with four holes left to play, having previously been five shots ahead earlier in the round.

"It was a tough finish for me today. I have been thinking about these last four holes for 22 hours," Els said. "So it was nice to finally get on the golf course. It's great winning here, and it's great to stand next to this legend here [Arnold Palmer].

"It feels like an eternity - I last won here in '98. I was a lot slimmer then."

Els made a crucial putt for par on the 15th to hang on to his lead after Na narrowly missed an eagle putt on the 16th to cut Els' lead to one. Na's challenge ended on the final hole when he found the rough on his tee-shot. His putt for par stopped agonisingly short of the hole to round off an otherwise impressive final round on a bogey. His final round 69 saw him finish on nine-under, leaving Els breathing room on his final hole.

But the performance of the day undoubtedly belonged to Italian Edoardo Molinari, who sunk a 50-foot putt on the 17th to move to nine-under, two shots off the pace. It rounded off an impressive weekend for the Molinari family after brother Francesco finished fourth at the Open de Catalunya on the European Tour.

A shot behind Na and Molinari was Retief Goosen on eight-under after the South African finished his final round on a high with a stunning bunker shot that left him with a tiny putt for a par.

Els' playing partners Chris Couch and Ben Curtis endured mixed fortunes on their final four holes. Couch rounded off with a solid 71 to join Goosen on eight-under, while Curtis bogeyed the last to card a 74, one shot behind on seven-under.

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