Andres Romero shot a final round 68 to finish on 13-under-par and win the Zurich Classic by one stroke from Peter Lonard.

Tim Wilkinson finished two strokes back in third and Padraig Harrington, Woody Austin and Nicholas Thompson tied for fourth, three shots behind.

Like 34 other golfers, Romero had to come back to the course on Sunday morning to finish his third round which was suspended due to heavy rain and lightning.

The Argentinian only had two holes to play and birdied them both to finish with a 65 and find himself one shot behind third-round leader John Merrick.

Romero finished his final round nearly three hours before the final group of Briny Baird and Lonard and endured a nervous wait before claiming his first PGA Tour title.

This is the fourth consecutive time a first-time winner has claimed the trophy. Tim Petrovic won in 2005, Chris Couch in 2006 and Nick Watney last year.

"I'm glad to win my first PGA Tour event," Romero said. "I will play on the PGA Tour as much as I can.

"I didn't know if it would be enough. I was a little nervous. I tried to spend time with my friends."

Romero benefitted from others slipping up.

The most notable was Woody Austin. Austin and Romero had been exchanging the lead or were tied for it a good part of the day.

But when Romero made a three-foot birdie to get to 13 under and then made two pars to finish with a 68, the onus was on Austin and others to catch him.

Austin was at 13 under but a bogey on the 14th dropped him a stroke behind and he could not make birdies on the following holes. He reached 18 needing a birdie and produced two gaffes from the fairway.

Austin's second shot was 258 yards from the pin in the left rough and he hit a five wood that appeared to get stuck in the grass, the ball barely advancing 20 yards. His next shot was with the same club and he pushed it into the water. He settled for a double-bogey seven.

"I was trying to give myself the best chance to make four and the best chance was to get it close and hit a sand wedge into the green," Austin said. "Unfortunately I hit it in the thickest rough I've seen all week.

"I choked my guts out; when you play as bad as I did on the back nine, you are choking. I'm not afraid to say it."

Lonard was much more consistent, but a mistake on the final hole cost him. He began the day tied with Romero at nine under and made birdies on the 11th and 12th to move within a stroke.

Lonard failed to get up and down on the par-three 17th hole and dropped a shot, but he still had a par five to play.

Lonard started 18 by putting his tee shot in the left bunker and he had to lay up well before the hole. His third shot came to rest 40 feet from the pin and he was unable to make the putt.

"I knew what the number was I had to get to," Lonard said. "I got there, I just didn't know what to do once I got there."

Collated final round scores & totals in the PGA Tour Zurich Classic of New Orleans, TPC of Louisiana, Avondale, Louisiana, United States of America

(USA unless stated, par 72):

275 Andres Romero (Arg) 73 69 65 68

276 Peter Lonard (Aus) 67 70 70 69

277 Tim Wilkinson (Nzl) 71 68 71 67

278 Woody Austin 69 71 67 71, Nicholas Thompson 69 71 67 71, Padraig Harrington (Irl) 71 70 68 69

279 John Merrick 72 67 67 73, Tim Petrovic 74 68 66 71, Tommy Armour III 70 68 75 66

280 Marco Dawson 71 68 70 71, Steve Elkington (Aus) 68 71 72 69

281 Dudley Hart 73 69 68 71, Pat Perez 71 70 71 69, John Senden (Aus) 74 69 66 72, Parker McLachlin 72 67 71 71, James Driscoll 75 67 73 66, Wen-chong Liang (Chn) 71 72 69 69, Jonathan Byrd 72 71 67 71, Briny Baird 67 69 71 74

282 Roland Thatcher 70 70 70 72, Jon Mills (Can) 71 70 69 72, Jason Bohn 74 68 72 68

283 Charles Warren 70 74 68 71, Steve Flesch 69 72 71 71, Kenny Perry 71 71 69 72, Nathan Green (Aus) 71 69 71 72, Jeff Maggert 70 70 71 72, Cameron Beckman 68 71 75 , 9, Jose Coceres (Arg) 75 68 68 72, Craig Barlow 72 71 68 72, Carlos Franco (Par) 71 70 72 70, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 71 70 71 71

284 Brian Davis (Eng) 71 68 73 72, Daniel Chopra (Swe) 71 73 66 74, Bob Estes 72 72 68 72, Mark Calcavecchia 71 71 73 69, Jeff Quinney 71 73 70 70, Jay Williamson 68 69 72 75, Todd Hamilton 70 70 69 75, Chip Sullivan 76 68 72 68, Tom Pernice Jnr. 73 71 71 69

285 Nick Watney 71 67 76 71, Jin Park (Kor) 70 74 72 69, Patrick Sheehan 69 73 70 73, Ted Purdy 70 71 72 72, Kevin Sutherland 71 71 70 73, John Mallinger 69 73 72 71, Chez Reavie 67 72 74 72, Dean Wilson 66 73 75 71

286 Robert Karlsson (Swe) 70 73 72 71, Mathew Goggin (Aus) 73 70 71 72, Mathias Gronberg (Swe) 75 69 72 70, Shigeki Maruyama (Jpn) 70 68 75 73, Rocco Mediate 70 70 73 73, Brian Bateman 73 70 69 74, Frank Lickliter II 72 71 72 71

287 J J Henry 74 68 69 76, Justin Bolli 74 68 73 72, Zach Johnson 72 71 74 70, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 73 71 74 69, Scott Sterling 71 73 72 71, Bubba Dickerson 70 73 75 69, Robert Gamez 70 74 75 68

288 Chris Stroud 72 71 73 72, Paul Goydos 74 70 71 73, Mark Hensby (Aus) 74 68 70 76, Troy Matteson 69 73 72 74, Johnson Wagner 71 72 76 69, Matthew Jones (Aus) 74 68 74 72

289 George McNeill 71 73 72 73, Harrison Frazar 69 73 71 76, Bubba Watson 73 69 75 72, Tim Clark (Rsa) 73 66 74 76, Cliff Kresge 75 68 70 76

290 Joe Durant 69 71 77 73, Jonathan Kaye 74 70 75 71, Alex Cejka (Ger) 72 72 75 71

291 Rich Beem 73 71 73 74

292 Brandt Jobe 70 74 76 72

293 Brett Rumford (Aus) 72 72 72 77

Disqualified: Stewart Cink