GRAND BLANC (Michigan), Aug 4: US Open champion Jim Furyk shot a four-under-par 68 and held off a late charge from world number one Tiger Woods to win the $4 million Buick Open on Sunday.

Furyk finished at 21-under 267, winning by two strokes over Woods (66), Australia’s Geoff Ogilvy (65), Briny Baird (66) and Chris DiMarco (67).

It was the 33-year-old’s second win of 2003 and ninth PGA Tour career win.

Paul Goydos (68) and Neal Lancaster (69) finished tied for sixth at 18-under 270, while Andrew Magee (66), Fiji’s Vijay Singh (66), Australia’s Paul Gow (70) and Kenny Perry (70) rounded out the top 10 at 16-under 272.

Furyk began the day with a one-stroke lead over Carl Paulson and promptly birdied the first two holes. He birdied the par-four sixth en route to an outward 33.

Furyk, who played the back nine at Warwick Hills Golf and Country Club in 12 under for the tournament, bogeyed the par-three 11th, but bounced back with birdies at the par-five 13th and par-four 14th to open his final two-stroke margin.

After a three-putt green at the 11th, Furyk’s lead was reduced to a stroke and he knew there were only so many birdie opportunities remaining.

At the par-five 13th, Furyk’s drive took away the option of going for the green in two. After laying up, he hit a lob wedge to three feet and made the birdie putt.

At the par-four 14th, another errant drive left Furyk with a difficult approach from the short cut of rough. Furyk chipped to 15 feet and made the birdie putt to pad his lead.

Of Furyk’s challengers throughout the final round, defending champion Woods and Ogilvy put the most heat on him.

Ogilvy opened his round with three straight birdies before a bogey at the par-four fourth and then added birdies at the seventh and eighth holes for an outward 32.

The Australian, who notched his third runner-up finish in three years on the PGA Tour, added four more birdies on the back nine before a second bogey at the par-three 17th.

Woods’s charge began after a birdie-bogey start for the second straight day. He used his length to birdie the remaining three par-five holes and added three more along the way.

After his final birdie at the par-five 16th, though, there were no more birdies to be found.

Leading final round scores (US unless stated):

267 — Jim Furyk 68, 66, 65, 68.

269 — Tiger Woods 69, 65, 69, 66; Geoff Ogilvy (Australia) 70, 65, 69, 65; Briny Baird 70, 68, 65, 66; Chris DiMarco 67, 64, 71, 67.

270 — Paul Goydos 68, 68, 66, 68; Neal Lancaster 67, 68, 66, 69.

272 — Andrew Magee 71, 64, 71, 66; Vijay Singh (Fiji) 69, 67, 70, 66; Paul Gow (Australia) 66, 67, 69, 70; Kenny Perry 69, 67, 66, 70.

273 — Jeff Sluman 71, 68, 67, 67; Paul Azinger 71, 66, 68, 68.

274 — David Sutherland 66, 67, 74, 67; John Huston 69, 67, 73, 65; Dicky Pride 70, 69, 67, 68; Garrett Willis 67, 68, 70, 69; Heath Slocum 67, 71, 67, 69.

275 — Todd Barranger 71, 66, 71, 67; Mike Heinen 70, 69, 69, 67; Hal Sutton 72, 64, 70, 69; Jay Delsing 71, 67, 67, 70; Woody Austin 69, 66, 68, 72.

276 — Tom Pernice Jr 70, 67, 71, 68; Stuart Appleby (Australia) 67, 72, 68, 69; Shaun Micheel 67, 68, 72, 69; Scott McCarron 70, 70, 70, 66; Ian Leggatt (Canada) 71, 69, 70, 66; Fred Funk 68, 68, 69, 71; Scott Verplank 69, 70, 66, 71; Hank Kuehne 69, 68, 68, 71.

Leading world rankings (previous ranking in brackets):

1. (1) Tiger Woods 17.22 points average; 2. (2) Ernie Els (South Africa) 9.35; 3. (6) Jim Furyk 8.12; 4. (3) Vijay Singh (Fiji) 7.96; 5. (4) Mike Weir (Canada) 7.66; 6. (5) Davis Love III 7.50; 7. (7) David Toms 6.68; 8. (8) Kenny Perry 6.36; 9. (9) Padraig Harrington (Ireland) 6.04; 10. (10) Nick Price (Zimbabwe) 5.68; 11. (11) Phil Mickelson 5.64; 12. (12) Retief Goosen (South Africa) 4.76; 13. (13) Justin Leonard 4.32; 14. (17) Chris DiMarco 3.77; 15. (14) Sergio Garcia (Spain) 3.77; 16.(15) Robert Allenby (Australia) 3.62; 17. (18) Thomas Bjorn (Denmark) 3.54; 18. (19) Darren Clarke (Britain) 3.54; 19. (16) Rich Beem 3.52; 20. (20) Bob Estes 3.29.—Reuters