Jim Furyk almost made his former college coach a prophet.

Furyk, who graduated from Arizona in 1992 after helping his team win a national championship, tied with Tiger Woods for second place in the U.S. Open Championship held Thursday through Sunday.

“”Jim was my pick to win this week,”” said Rick LaRose, Arizona’s head coach for the past 29 years. “”I was pretty close.””

Furyk shot a 6-over 286 on the par-70 course at Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club.

The finish was only a stroke off what Argentina native Angel Cabrera posted to win his first PGA Tour event.

Woods hasn’t won an Open since 2002, and the last American to win one was Furyk, who took the title in 2003 at Olympia Fields Country Club in Illinois.

Furyk won $1.08 million that year. This year he and Woods each walked away with $611,336. Cabrera won $1.26 million.

“”No one likes consolation prizes,”” Furyk told The Associated Press Sunday night. “”I’m proud of the way I played, and I’m proud of those finishes. But you know, a second is not that much fun, to be honest with you.””

Woods couldn’t have agreed more.

“”Finishing second is never fun,”” he told the AP after closing the tournament with a final round of 72. “”You play so hard, and it’s just

disappointing.””

Furyk became the first player since Arnold Palmer in 1966-1967 to be a runner-up in the U.S. Open in consecutive years. Last year at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, N.Y., Furyk failed to convert a 6-foot putt for par on the final hole to leave him one shot behind champ

Geoff Ogilvy.

This time around, he had an entire fairway to blame rather than one putt.

Tied for the lead on the 17th tee, Furyk used his driver on the uphill par 4, and launched his ball into the thick rough on the short side of the green with no angle to the hole. He ended up bogeying the hole and making par on the 18th.

“”The rough is very deep and very narrow at that golf course,”” LaRose said. “”But Jim’s a great player when it comes to hard courses. The harder the course, the better Jim does it seems.””

Had he made par on the 17th, Furyk could have forced a playoff with Cabrera for a chance to be the U.S. Open champion in the city where he grew up.

“”I played well all day,”” he said. “”I had a lot of opportunities. It just didn’t work out.””

19th hole

Former Wildcats Rory Sabbatini (21 over) and Ricky Barnes (15 over) also competed in the Open. Sabbatini, representing South Africa, won $20,282 as he tied for 51st place. Barnes tied for 107th and missed the cut by 11 strokes.