OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. (AP) – Jim Furyk’s name is on the U.S. Open trophy, not a picture of his swing.

With all the attention paid to the goofy way he goes about hitting the ball, it was easy to overlook what became obvious late Sunday – that Furyk has always had the ideal kind of game to win a U.S. Open.

He sent the ball down the middle all week, followed that with irons that usually found the green, and displayed a masterful touch around the hole.

In short, pretty much everything it takes to become an Open champion.

Matched with a relatively short Olympia Fields course that played to his strengths, Furyk was unbeatable.

“If you’d pick a major championship for him to win you’d figure it would be this one,” Tiger Woods said. “The way he plays his game and the way this is set up, this is a perfect venue for him.”

Furyk’s lack of length wasn’t a factor at Olympia Fields, unlike last year at Bethpage Black, where he missed the cut. On the 7,190-yard course, Furyk could play with the big boys without sacrificing the advantage.

He hit seven out of every 10 fairways, second only behind Nick Price. He hit three out of every four greens, more than any player in the field.

“I got the ball in play, got it in positions where I could play from,” Furyk said. “That was the most important thing. You can’t play from the rough around here.”

For three days, Furyk shot the kind of scores you’re not supposed to see in a U.S. Open. He took a three-shot lead over Stephen Leaney to the final round and made a crucial putt from just off the green on the second hole to steady himself early.

Then Furyk went on to do that most Open champions do – make a bunch of pars and win it the old-fashioned way.

“I love being the front-runner,” Furyk said. “I like to hit the ball to the middle of the fairway, middle of the green and put pressure on the other guy to make the shots.”

Furyk did just that, making five straight pars to open his round and then matching Leaney with a two-putt birdie on the par-5 sixth hole. He made routine two-putt pars on the next three holes and, suddenly, he had a five-shot lead entering the back nine.

Whenever Furyk needed a short putt, he made it. His bulky putter looked as funny as his swing, but both worked perfectly under pressure.

“I got a little tentative out there which I didn’t want to do,” Furyk said. “But I always sucked it up and made that 3-4 footer to make my par.”

It didn’t make for the most interesting golf, but it was just the kind of play that usually wins Opens. And Furyk did it well enough that fans overlooked his maddening habit of stepping up to a putt as if he was going to hit it and then backing off and looking at his line again.

Furyk was so methodical that the crowds at Olympia Fields did little more than politely clap for him as he went along. But methodical is what wins Opens, and his game plan didn’t change on Sunday from the one that got him the lead.

“I really felt comfortable about my game and I came in here with a mind-set thinking about how I’ve been playing,” Furyk said. “I was thinking and talking with my family about winning this golf tournament before I got here, and I think setting that positive frame of mind was one of the keys.”

Even a woman who bared her breasts on the 11th hole didn’t shake the unflappable Furyk, whose expression remained as constant as his game. Leaney made it interesting with a birdie on the 13th hole to pull within three shots, but Furyk came right back on the next hole to hit a short iron to 2 feet for a birdie of his own.

“He just kept me at arm’s length all day,” Leaney said.

Furyk has always had the enviable reputation of being a player who hits it straight and rarely makes mistakes. He’s so consistent that he finished in the top 10 in nine of his 13 tournaments this year.

At 33, he was already considered one of the best players in the world without a major championship.

Now that he has one, the only question now may be how many more Open titles he might win.

“My name will be on that trophy forever with some of the unbelievable names in golf,” Furyk said. “You can’t take that away from me.”

AP-ES-06-15-03 2151EDT