After a final day that swung first one way and then the other, Charl Schwartzel, of South Africa, burst through to win the Spanish Open yesterday, taking the title from under the noses of Jyoti Randhawa, of India, and the home favourite, Carlos Rodiles.

Schwartzel, who, like the rest of the field, had to play the best part of two rounds in one day because of adverse weather earlier in the week, had scores of 69, 68, 68 and 67 at the Centro Nacional for a total of 272, 16 under par, and victory by one shot over Randhawa and two over Rodiles.

The turning point came at the 16th hole of the final round, when Schwartzel, 22, eagled the par-five hole for the second time in three rounds to take a two-shot lead over Randhawa, who had been five over par after 13 holes in the first round before cruising effortlessly to the head of the field.

When Randhawa dropped his first shot since the 4th hole of the second round at the 15th, however, he opened the door to Schwartzel. A lucky bounce at the short par-four 13th led to a birdie that brought the South African level with Randhawa, on 15 under par, and then a drive and a three-iron to within 12 feet of the 16th hole and a coolly executed putt effectively closed out matters.

Schwartzel had the luxury of a bogey at the difficult 18th with the knowledge that Rodiles, playing behind him, would need to birdie the hole to force a play-off. The South African’s second victory on the European Tour earned him £226,000 and moved him into the world’s top 50 for the first time.

He had ended his third round with a double bogey and admitted that he had been “steaming” before going out to play again, three shots behind Rodiles, the leader. But with Ricci Roberts, Ernie Els’s former caddie, having recently started working with him, he was steered calmly through choppy waters.

“I must give a lot of credit to Ricci,” Schwartzel said. “I’ve been playing well, but when he came on to the bag three weeks ago it gave me that little edge.“It’s a good thing I could have some lunch after that double bogey because I was steaming. Up to there, I had only made one bogey all week, but I cooled down again.”

By climbing into the world top 50, Schwartzel can now play in The Players Championship – regarded as the fifth major – at Sawgrass in two weeks. “That’s the breakthrough I need,” he said. “I was going to take that week off.”

—Luke Donald, who had led by one stroke after 54 holes, failed in his attempt to win his third victory on the PGA Tour in the United States as Scott Verplank won the EDS Byron Nelson Classic in Irving, Texas. Donald lost his lead when he double bogeyed the 9th and Verplank birdied it. Donald’s 68, his highest of the week, left him one stroke behind Verplank. A fine 66 by Ian Poulter enabled him to finish fifth.