( CNN ) -- Ernie Els survived some nervy moments to secure his second successive Arnold Palmer Invitational title in Orlando on Monday . The South African 's charge for the trophy was halted by bad weather on Sunday night , forcing play to be abandoned when he was leading by two shots with four holes left . Els recorded four pars to end his round on a total of 277 ( -11 ) but had to rely on his powers of recovery to avoid dropping shots on the sodden course . He sank an important putt on 15 to save his par before putting his drive on the following hole into the trees . He regained control to prevent dropping a shot before chipping out of a difficult lie on 17 to make another par . American Kevin Na cut Els ' lead to just one stroke on the 16th hole but his hopes ended when he left his par putt short on 18 . `` It was a tough finish for me , '' Els told reporters . `` I 've been thinking about these last four holes for 22 hours so it was nice to finally get on the golf course . `` I kind of limped home but the work I have put in has started paying off , and obviously my short game is good . I got it up and down the last two holes . '' Els claimed the WGC-CA Championship in his last outing and heads into the year 's first major , the Masters at Augusta in early April , in good shape .
Ernie Els wins the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando . Els holds off late charge from American Kevin Na . It is the second year in a row Els has won the tournament .