SOUTH AFRICA, 13 Feb 2016, (AFP) - The 31-year-old South African shot a seven-under-par 63 to finish on 16 under and clinch his eighth European Tour win on home soil.
Denmark's Jeff Winther finished second on eight under, with South Africa's Anthony Michael another two shots further back in third.
"In the first three rounds I gave myself so many chances. If I had the stroke I had today, it probably would have been my best tournament ever," said Schwartzel, who was delighted with his putting in the final round at the Pretoria Country Club.
"It's just frustrating when you don't putt very well and you don't convert, and to make the putts when it counts, that's even more satisfying.
"Everything is sort of falling into place. I've worked really hard leading up to this and it's just been feeling good, so everything has got some really good signs, so I'm excited," he said.
Schwartzel started the final round with just a one-shot lead but soon moved to 10 under par when he rolled in a 15-foot birdie putt at the second.
Although he dropped a shot at the third, he was still four strokes ahead of nearest challenger Zander Lombard after birdies at the sixth and seventh. An eagle at the ninth helped him reach the turn in 31.
Schwartzel then suffered a second bogey of the day at the 11th, which took him back to 12 under.
But his experience told as another birdie followed at the 12th before a monster 40-foot putt at the 14th took him to 14 under.
Schwartzel saved par at the 15th before another birdie at the 16th to reach 15 under.
A par at the 17th followed before he finished in style with a short birdie putt at the last.
Lombard eventually fell away and hit a final round 74 to finish 12 shots off the pace.
Leading final round scores in the European Tour's Tshwane Open at the Pretoria Country Club on Sunday (GBR/IRL unless stated, par 70):
264 - Charl Schwartzel (RSA) 71 64 66 63
272 - Jeff Winther (DEN) 73 66 69 64
274 - Anthony Michael (RSA) 64 69 71 70
275 - Dean Burmester (RSA) 70 68 68 69, Justin Walters (RSA) 71 68 71 65, Richard Sterne (RSA) 68 70 69 68
276 - Brett Rumford (AUS) 75 67 68 66, Jamie McLeary 68 70 69 69, Zander Lombard (RSA) 72 67 63 74
277 - Haydn Porteous (RSA) 70 66 68 73, Brandon Stone (RSA) 71 70 70 66, Jaco Van Zyl (RSA) 66 72 72 67
278 - Gary Boyd 71 69 71 67
279 - Toby Tree 70 71 65 73, Matthew Nixon 71 71 69 68, David Horsey 71 71 69 68, George Coetzee (RSA) 68 72 68 71, Chris Paisley 70 69 72 68, Dylan Frittelli (RSA) 68 69 74 68, Seve Benson 73 66 71 69