SAN FRANCISCO — Webb Simpson won the U.S. Open and put two more names into the graveyard of champions.

Overlooked for so much of the week, Simpson emerged on a fog-filled Sunday at The Olympic Club with four birdies around the turn and a tough chip out of a hole to the right of the 18th green he converted into par for a 2-under 68.

He finished at 1-over 281, and it was enough to outlast former U.S. Open champions Jim Furyk and Graeme McDowell.

Furyk bogeyed two of his last three holes. McDowell had a 25-foot birdie on the 18th to force a playoff, but it never had a chance.

"Oh, wow," Simpson said, watching from the locker room.

Olympic is known as the "graveyard of champions" because proven major winners who were poised to win the U.S. Open have always lost to the underdog. One of those was Arnold Palmer in 1966, when he lost a seven-shot lead on the back nine.

Perhaps it was only fitting that the 25-year-old Simpson went to Wake Forest on an Arnold Palmer scholarship.

"Arnold has been so good to me," Simpson 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 with his first major.

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 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 the entire way, and he settled 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.

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 569 yards. It was reachable in two shots for some players, though the shape of the hole featured a sharp turn to the left.

"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," he said. "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."

NOTES

• Tiger Woods tried his best to put a positive spin on things, even when there was nothing positive about his weekend. For two rounds, Woods seemed to be in command. Then came a 75-73 weekend of frustration that ran his winless streak in majors to four years and raised more questions about his ability to win titles he used to take for granted. "There's a lot of positives this week. Hit the ball really well," he said. "Unfortunately, I just didn't have the speed of the greens until today."

• While 17-year-old Beau Hossler gathered all the attention with his stellar play through three rounds, Jordan Spieth took low amateur honors. The 18-year-old freshman at Texas closed with a 70 for a 7-over 287. Hossler stumbled with a 76 for a 9-over 289.