The Swede last year won the Commercialbank Qatar Masters and he kept his winning streak in the Middle East alive by carding a four-under-par 68 to finish 19 under for the tournament.

The top of the leaderboard was ever changing throughout the final day, but Stenson made the breakthrough on the 14th when he added his fourth birdie of the day to go one shot clear - and never looked back..

The 30-year-old set himself up for a birdie putt on the 18th which, if he missed, would have meant a play-off with Els.

However ihe ice-cool Stenson kept calm and cooly sank the putt from eight feet for a win that earned him £203,470 in prize money.

Three-time Classic winner Els did, however, win his personal battle with defending champion Tiger Woods.

The 37-year-old finished above the world number one in second place to avenge his agonising play-off defeat at the Emirates Golf Club last year.

Woods, meanwhile, finished third, a disappointing start to the back nine proving to be his undoing.

The 12-time major winner was tied at the top after the turn, but shot successive bogeys on the 10th and 11th to slip away from the leaders.

Three successive birdies from the 13th brought him back into contention and though he added another on the 18th it was too little too late as he finished with a three-under-par 69 and a 17-under total that left him two shots in arears.

"That is one of the worst putting weeks I have had in a long time," complained the 31-year-old.

"Very frustrating. I have got a lot of work to do when I go home.

"I hit the ball well enough to give myself a chance, but I just did not putt at all well. I putted poorly all week and it is frustrating because normally, I only putt badly on poor greens.

"I come over here to the best greens we have seen in a long time and I miss a bunch of putts."

Niclas Fasth, a Swede like Stenson also thrived in the hot desert conditions to finish in a third-place tie with Woods after he had carded a four-under 68.

Fasth shot birdies on the first and second, but dropped a shot on the par-three fourth and though he enjoyed a faultless run coming home, adding three birdies, it was not enough to deny Stenson.

Ross Fisher, whose lead in the tournament was only ended yesterday, dropped to fourth after carding a one-under-par 71.

It looked to be going well for the 26-year-old when he made birdies on the third and fourth, but on the second nine he was always struggling to make up lost ground following a double bogey on the eighth, and even three more birdies didn't help because they were nullified by two bogeys coming home.

Colin Montgomerie finished 12 under after carding a final round of three-under-par 69.

The Scot made slow progress on the outward nine, dropping a shot on the eighth and making par on the rest.

But he fared better coming home, making five birdies and just one more bogey.

Paul Casey and Darren Clarke finished nine under after they both carded a disappointing one-over-par 73. Paul McGinley and Lee Westwood were a shot further back.

ALL THE FINAL ROUND SCORES

(Gbr & Irl unless stated, Par 72)

269 Henrik Stenson (Swe) 68 64 69 68

270 Ernie Els (RSA) 66 65 68 71

271 Niclas Fasth (Swe) 69 69 65 68, Tiger Woods (USA) 68 67 67 69

272 Ross Fisher 65 65 71 71

274 Peter Hanson (Swe) 69 65 69

275 Simon Dyson 67 69 69 70, Prom Meesawat (Tha) 68 68 68 71, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 66 68 67 74

276 Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 70 71 69 66, Colin Montgomerie 73 66 68 69, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 67 68 71 70, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 70 67 68 71, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 70 69 66 71

277 Johan Edfors (Swe) 72 68 69 68, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 69 69 71 68, Andrew Coltart 69 71 67 70

278 Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 67 70 72 69, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 71 67 68 72

279 David Park 70 70 70 69, Robert-Jan Derksen (Ned) 70 66 71 72, Phillip Price 67 71 69 72, Paul Casey 70 68 68 73, Darren Clarke 68 70 68 73

280 Lee Westwood 68 69 75 68, Paul Broadhurst 73 66 71 70, Paul McGinley 69 69 71 71, David Griffiths 71 67 69 73, Andrew Marshall 69 70 68 73, Taichi Teshima (Jpn) 69 69 68 74

281 Oliver Wilson 73 67 71 70, Marcel Siem (Ger) 68 71 69 73, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 70 67 70 74

282 Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 68 71 75 68, Christopher Hanell (Swe) 72 69 70 71, Damied McGrane 72 69 70 71, Andrew McLardy (Rsa) 75 66 70 71, David Lynn 70 69 72 71, Richard Green (Aus) 72 67 71 72, Nick Dougherty 72 68 69 73, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 69 70 70 73, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 70 69 67 76, Joakim Haeggman (Swe) 69 67 69 77

283 Stephen Gallacher 71 69 68 75, Graeme McDowell 65 69 73 76, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 66 71 70 76, Mark Foster 71 68 68 76

284 Gregory Havret (Fra) 71 70 73 70, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 69 72 69 74, Francesco Molinari (Ita) 70 70 70 74, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 74 66 69 75

285 Alastair Forsyth 70 70 70 75, Rory McIlroy (x) 69 69 71 76

286 Phillip Archer 69 71 75 71, Notah Begay III (USA) 71 69 73 73, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa) 73 68 71 74, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 71 69 69 77, Garry Houston 71 67 71 77

287 Cesar Monasterio (Arg) 68 70 74 75, Hennie Otto (Rsa) 71 69 71 76, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 69 68 72 78

288 Stephen Dodd 72 68 73 75

289 Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 71 70 73 75

290 Greg Norman (Aus) 70 71 71 78

291 Bradley Dredge 69 72 79 71

300 Lee Slattery 70 71 76 83