Britain's Kerr outsprints Hocker for world indoor 3,000m gold
Kerr hit the front at the bell and clocked 7min 35.56sec for victory in a tactical race, 0.14sec ahead of US rival Cole Hocker.
France's Yann Schrub claimed bronze.
"It's nice to be back to where I was," said Kerr, who won the world indoor title two years ago but sustained a calf tear at last year's 1,500m final at the world outdoors in Tokyo.
"This race didn't go the way I wanted it to go, but racing is all about dealing with the situations you are put in.
"I shouldn't worry much about the mistakes in the race...