NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana: US veteran Jerry Kelly won his first title in seven years on Sunday, fighting back after squandering the lead to win the $6.2 million PGA Zurich Classic by one stroke.

Kelly, who led by three strokes when the day began, won in his 200th start since his last victory at the 2002 Western Open, firing a final-round 1-under 71 to finish 72 holes on 14-under 274.

“This has been a long time coming,” Kelly said. “Can’t feel much better.”

Kelly’s caddie, Eric Meller, was the first to congratulate Kelly, telling him that his favorite line about the long drought was now obsolete.

“My caddie came up to me and the first thing he said was, ‘You’ve got to stop saying the last time you won was ‘Oh too long ago’ because it was in ‘02. Now you can say, ‘09 divine’. So I’ll go with his thoughts on that one.”

South Africa’s Rory Sabbatini, South Korean Charlie Wi and American Charles Howell shared second on 275. Sabbatini fired a 67 while Howell and Wi each shot 68s. Americans Steve Marino and David Toms shared fifth on 276.

Howell made a furious charge to the lead from four off the pace at the start with birdies on six of the first 11 holes, including back-to-backs starting on the second and fifth holes as well as the ninth and 11th holes. But Howell came home two-over in the last seven holes, bogeys on the 15th and 17th thwarting his title bid.

“I got myself in position,” Howell said. “I wish I could have finished it a little better.” Sabbatini fired seven birdies with two sets of back-to-back birdies on the front side as well.

He birdied the 10th and 12th but was undone by a bogey at the par-3 17th even with a birdie on the par-5 18th.

Kelly birdied the fifth hole, took bogeys at the eighth and 10th to fall behind Howell’s pace, but battled back with birdies at the par-5 11th and par-3 14th.

“Maybe it took the pressure off me. It wasn’t my tournament to lose anymore. It was my tournament to go get,” Kelly said. “That’s the mindset that I took after 10. You know, I really focused down. “I wasn’t as worried about not getting a hot start because I had done better on the back than the front all week. So I wasn’t concerned.” Wi, Sabbatini and Howell could only watch as Marino, level with them, and Kelly, one stroke ahead, came down the 18th fairway. Marino found a bunker off the tee and took a bogey to spoil his hopes but Kelly was careful to the end. Kelly, four times a runner-up with 42 top-10 finishes since his triumph seven years earlier, found the fairway, laid up, put his approach 12 feet from the cup and dropped a two-footer for par and his long-awaited victory.

Ochoa retains LPGA Mexico title

In Morelia, Mexico, Lorena Ochoa fired a five-under par 68 on Sunday to hold off Norway’s Suzanne Pettersen and win her second straight Corona Championship LPGA title.

Ochoa, who also won the tournament in her homeland in 2006, nabbed back-to-back birdies at 15 and 16 to break out of a tie with Pettersen.

She won with a 25-under total of 267.

Ochoa had to make do without regular caddie Dave Booker around the Tres Marias Country Club course after he was injured playing football on Saturday.

She called on childhood coach Rafael Alarcon and with him on the bag Ochoa collected her 26th career title and second this season.

Ochoa also notched her third career LPGA victory in Mexico, where she has played 11 of the 13 tournaments sanctioned by the US women’s tour. South Korea’s Na Yeon Choi finished third after a 70 for 274. American Wendy Ward was a further stroke back after a 70 for 275.

Ochoa won last year’s tournament by 11 strokes but had to battle this time.

Pettersen started the day one stroke adrift and tied the lead with a birdie at the third hole.

Ochoa edged ahead with a birdie on the fourth, but Pettersen responded with a birdie at five.

Ochoa took a two-stroke lead with birdies at six and eight, but they were tied again after Ochoa bogeyed 11 and Pettersen birdied 12.

Ochoa finally took the lead for good with birdies at 15 and 16, leaving Pettersen still in search of her first LPGA win since 2007.

Thai star cracks world top 50

Meantime, Thongchai Jaidee’s victory at the Ballantine’s Championship saw him crack the world’s top 50 and qualify for next week’s lucrative Players Championship in the United States.

The 39-year-old displayed nerves of steel to beat South Korea’s Kang Sung-Hoon and Spain’s Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano in a playoff to win on Sunday for his 12th Asian career triumph.

It catapulted him up from 73 to 49 in the new world rankings released yesterday, earning him a tilt at the $9.3 million in prizemoney up for grabs in the United States next week.

Other Asians set to play include Korea’s K.J Choi (ranked 30), Japan’s Shingo Katayama (35), and India’s Jeev Milka Singh (36).