Chris Couch chipped in from 26 feet on the 18th hole to win the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

Couch fired a seven-under-par 65 to finish at 19 under 269, one stroke ahead of Fred Funk and Charles Howell III.

Funk signed for a 10-under 62 in the final round and at one point was briefly tied for the lead. Howell fired a 65.

Couch had a two-stroke lead with two holes to play, but made a bogey on the 17th hole.

On the 18th hole his approach shot flew the green into the back of a bunker.

His third shot barely cleared the sand trap and settled on an upslope before the green.

He then hit a wedge and watched as the ball rolled into the hole.

Howell had a chance to force a play-off, but his 46-foot birdie putt was a foot short.

Little-known Couch, who earned just under £600,000 for the victory, is the third first-time winner on the PGA Tour and the second one to win this year who didn't have a tour card last year. JB Holmes set that precedent.

When Couch hit the chip on 18 it started tracking toward the hole and he knew it had a chance to go in the cup.

"When I hit it I landed it right where I wanted to," Couch said. "When it got to about six feet I thought it was looking like it was going to go in.

"I was thinking this would be a great way to win a tournament," said Couch, who won five times on the Nationwide Tour. "It was pretty incredible."

England's Ian Poulter closed with a 67 to claim a share of seventh, five shots off the winner.

Ireland's Padraig Harrington was another shot back in joint-11th after a 66.

Northern Irishman Graeme McDowell finished on 12 under alongside Masters champion Phil Mickelson.

Collated final round scores and totals

(USA unless stated, par 72):

269 Chris Couch 70 70 64 65

270 Charles Howell III 70 69 66 65, Fred Funk 70 69 69 62

273 Joe Durant 68 64 73 68, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 65 72 72 64, Brett Wetterich 69 65 73 66

274 Ian Poulter (Eng) 67 68 72 67, Tim Herron 67 71 69 67, Lucas Glover 66 73 72 63, Danny Ellis 71 69 69 65

275 Padraig Harrington (Irl) 70 68 71 66, Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 69 67 75 64, Brian Bateman 70 67 71 67, Tommy Armour III 66 73 69 67

276 Phil Mickelson 68 71 68 69, David Branshaw 67 71 71 67, Carlos Franco (Par) 69 70 68 69, Scott McCarron 70 69 71 66, Graeme McDowell (NIrl) 64 73 72 67, J.L. Lewis 70 69 69 68, Dean Wilson 68 72 66 70, Nick Watney 66 72 70 68, John Senden (Aus) 71 66 74 65, Bill Haas 71 67 72 66

277 Retief Goosen (Rsa) 66 69 75 67, Mark Calcavecchia 71 67 71 68, Woody Austin 71 68 71 67, Steve Stricker 69 71 70 67, Jason Schultz 69 71 70 67, J.P. Hayes 68 69 71 69

278 Patrick Sheehan 69 71 71 67, Jerry Smith 67 73 71 67, Jesper Parnevik (Swe) 69 68 72 69, Kevin Sutherland 68 71 71 68, Jeff Sluman 66 73 71 68, Scott Verplank 70 69 72 67, Bubba Watson 66 73 72 67, Stephen Leaney (Aus) 68 67 72 71, Steve Lowery 70 69 73 66, Cameron Beckman 67 72 67 72

279 Charley Hoffman 66 69 76 68, Greg Kraft 71 69 72 67, Darron Stiles 67 72 76 64, Jeff Brehaut 68 69 74 68, Neal Lancaster 68 71 71 69, Steve Flesch 67 73 69 70

280 Heath Slocum 69 71 71 69, David Toms 69 67 72 72, Jeff Overton 73 65 71 71, Olin Browne 66 73 72 69, Skip Kendall 69 70 74 67, Mark Wilson 72 68 69 71

281 Eric Axley 70 65 77 69, Matt Hansen 71 66 70 74, Michael Allen 68 67 78 68

282 Hunter Mahan 69 68 77 68, Robert Garrigus 66 72 73 71, Glen Day 68 68 72 74

283 Omar Uresti 68 72 70 73, Paul Azinger 71 69 71 72, Roger Tambellini 70 67 74 72, Stuart Deane 66 72 76 69

284 Wes Short jr. 68 69 77 70

285 Daisuke Maruyama (Jpn) 68 72 74 71, Ryan Hietala 67 68 75 75

286 Tjaart Van der Walt (Rsa) 70 69 76 71, Justin Rose (Eng) 69 70 75 72

287 Kent Jones 69 70 79 69

288 Kirk Triplett 73 66 76 73

289 Larry Mize 68 71 78 72

295 Craig Perks (Nzl) 73 66 80 76