Simpson Open’s sole survivor

SAN FRANCISCO - Webb Simpson refused to think of himself as a U.S. Open champion until he sat quietly with his nervous wife in the locker room Sunday, staring in disbelief at a television as Jim Furyk and Graeme McDowell tried to catch him.

He was up against a pair of major champions. He was at Olympic Club, where the wrong guy always wins a U.S. Open.

Simpson should have known now how this would end.

He did his part with four birdies in a five-hole stretch around the turn, and a tough par from the collar of the 18th green for a 2-under 68. It was enough to win his first major when Furyk bogeyed two of his last three holes, and McDowell couldn't recover from a bad start and too many tee shots in the rough.

"Oh, wow," Simpson said when McDowell's 25-foot birdie putt to force a playoff stayed left of the cup

The 25-year-old Simpson emerged from a fog-filled final round as a U.S. Open champion, and he put two more names into the graveyard of champions.

"I never really wrapped my mind around winning," said Simpson, who finished at 1-over 281 to win in only his fifth time at a major. "This place is so demanding, and so all I was really concerned about was keeping the ball in front of me and making pars."

Olympic is known as the "Graveyard of Champions" where proven major winners who were poised to win the U.S. Open - Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson and Payne Stewart - all lost out to the underdog.

Perhaps it was only fitting that Simpson went to Wake Forest on an Arnold Palmer scholarship.

"Arnold has been so good to me," he said. "Just the other day, I read that story and thought about it. He's meant so much to me and Wake Forest. Hopefully, I can get a little back for him and make him smile."

No one was beaming like Simpson, who followed a breakthrough year on the PGA Tour with a signature victory.

No one was more disgusted than Furyk, in control for so much of the final round until he snap-hooked his tee shot on the par-5 16th hole to fall out of the lead for the first time all day, and was unable to get it back. Needing a birdie on the final hole, he hit into the bunker. He crouched and clamped his teeth onto the shaft of his wedge. Furyk made bogey on the final hole and closed with a 74, a final round without a single birdie.

McDowell, who made four bogeys on the front nine, at least gave himself a chance with a 20-foot birdie putt on the 17th and a shot into the 18th that had him sprinting up the hill to see what kind of chance he had. The putt stayed left of the hole and he had to settle for a 73.

McDowell shared second place with Michael Thompson, who closed with a 67 and waited two hours to see if it would be good enough.

Tiger Woods, starting five shots behind, played the first six holes in 6-over par and was never a factor. He shot 73 and finished six strokes back.

Furyk was fuming, mostly at himself, for blowing a chance at his second U.S. Open title. He also was surprised that the USGA moved the tee up 100 yards on the 16th hole to play at 569 yards.

"There's no way when we play our practice rounds you're going to hit a shot from a tee 100 yards up unless someone tells you," Furyk said. "But the rest of the field had that same shot to hit today, and I'm pretty sure no one hit as (bad) a shot as I did. I have no one to blame but myself.

"I was tied for the lead, sitting on the 16th tee. I've got wedges in my hand, or reachable par 5s, on the way in and one birdie wins the golf tournament. I'm definitely frustrated."

But he gave Simpson his due.

Of the last 18 players to tee off in the final round, Simpson was the only one to break par. That didn't seem likely when Simpson was six shots behind as he headed to the sixth hole, the toughest at Olympic. That's where he started his big run.

His 7-iron landed in the rough and rolled 5 feet away for birdie. He made birdie on the next two holes, including a 15-footer on the par-3 eighth. And his wedge into the 10th settled 3 feet away, putting him in the mix for the rest of the day.

"It was a cool day," Simpson said. "I had a peace all day. I knew it was a tough golf course. I probably prayed more the last three holes than I ever did in my life."

Simpson's shot from the rough on the 18th hole went just right of the green and disappeared into a hole, a circle of dirt about the size of a sprinkler cap. With a clump of grass behind the ball, he had a bold stroke for such a nervy shot and it came out perfectly, rolling 3 feet by the hole for his much-needed par.

Then, it was time to wait.

It was the third time in the last seven years that no one broke par in the U.S. Open. On all three occasions, the winner was in the locker room when the tournament ended.