Ernie Els returned from the wilderness to the world of top-class golf and he did so with the style of a thoroughbred and the kind of golf that made him a three-time major champion, winning the CA Championship on 18 under par by four shots from his compatriot and protégé Charl Schwartzel.

Padraig Harrington and Martin Kaymer, on 11 under for the tournament, were among three players who finished in a tie for third but they required a pair of binoculars to see the winner and runner-up.

A final round of 66, six under under, might have filled Els’ dreams on Saturday night. How sweet it must have been when it became reality on the Sunday afternoon. “I thought my game was in good shape. But I just wanted to prove it to myself,” he said afterwards.

victory was Els’ first for more than two years and the $1.4 m (£922,000) prize money that came with it made him the highest earner in the history of the European Tour, with career winnings of almost £22m, the tournament being jointly on two tours. But at this stage of his career the 40-year-old is presumably more concerned with his place in history than the size of his building society account.

The South African has won three majors but never a green jacket. Augusta is three weeks away and how he just knows it. “I can take a lot of positives from this going into the Masters,” he said.

For Schwartzel there was the consolation of a second-place finish in a world golf championship – arguably the best performance of his life – and the confirmation that he has the game to compete with the very best. Tied with Els for the lead overnight, he was expected to fade. Instead he thrived, pressing Els over the opening 10 holes. But his sloppy bogey on the 11th gave his playing partner an advantage he never ceded.

Even so Els could not quite shake off the suspicion that the fragility that has been a feature of his game in recent times might resurface just when it was least wanted.

His nerves were evident as he stepped on the 14th tee where he duck-hooked his drive little more than 200 yards. From there, a bogey seemed more likely than not.

Yet sometimes the outcome of a tournament seems predetermined as if decreed by a committee of the golfing gods, and, when Els rolled in the putt for par, it seemed destined to be his day.

Any remaining doubt disappeared at the 15th, a par-three that saw both South Africans in greenside bunkers. The difference was that Schwartzel’s ball was plugged in the sand while Els’ sat up, begging to be caressed towards the hole. He did exactly that while the younger man could only manage a bogey.

The advantage was now two shots, the contest was all but over, though Els made sure with a lovely birdie on the 16th. Traditionally a graveyard, Doral’s final hole was a mere formality, a victory march, a chance for Big Easy to taste the sweet smell of success.

Els last won two years ago in the Honda Classic. He becomes only the fifth player with multiple wins in the World Golf Championships, joining Tiger Woods, Darren Clarke, Geoff Ogilvy and Phil Mickelson.

The victory moves him to No. 8 in the world.