SAN FRANCISCO — It always has been said that a U.S. Open at the Olympic Club produces distinctive drama and heartbreak. Webb Simpson proved Sunday that it also can produce payback, even if it takes 46 years.

Simpson, who went to Wake Forest, Arnold Palmer’s alma mater, on a Palmer scholarship, made all the right shots, including a dramatic par on the final hole, to win the Open. His 1-over-par finish edged former Open champions Graeme McDowell (2 over) and Jim Furyk (3 over), as well as Michael Thompson (2 over), on the course that brought Palmer one of his most heartbreaking defeats when he lost in a playoff to Billy Casper in the 1966 Open. That was after Palmer held a seven-shot lead with nine to play.

The 26-year-old champion said he read that story this week, and it hit home. “Mr. Palmer means a lot to me,” he said after shooting 68, including four birdies in five holes.

Simpson was a two-time winner on the PGA Tour last season but acknowledged that taking the next step would be difficult. Back in March, he said, “If I’m in contention, I’m sure the pressure is going to be, you know, far beyond what I feel at a normal PGA Tour event. And so I’m excited for that opportunity. I want to get in that position, and you know, I don’t want to say it can’t happen this year, but I think the more experience I have, the better chance I’ll have to win.”

He came through under the most intense pressure when, on the 18th hole, he chipped from an open patch in thick rough and got his ball within four feet of the hole. He made the par putt to finish at 1 over while Furyk was dealing with a hooked drive in the trees on No. 16 that would lead to a bogey and drop him out of a tie for first.

McDowell, having lagged all day, had one last chance to force an 18-hole playoff with a 24-foot downhill birdie putt on No. 18 but missed it badly.

It ended a volatile, exciting week at the Olympic Club during which Tiger Woods seemed poised for his first major in four years but foundered on the weekend and finished at 7 over. “I had a chance this week, I’ll get at it in another week,” Woods said.

There is a certain kind of player who consistently contends in a U.S. Open. Perhaps at the top of the list of requirements is mental toughness.

A test of mental toughness can be entertaining. Golf lore says that the roars from the back nine on Sunday are the property and trademark of the Masters, where winners and losers are separated by the birdies and eagles they make down the stretch. There was plenty of roaring at the Open on Sunday, and not just for birdies. The Open values par.

A big cheer went up when Furyk made a 35-foot putt on the 12th hole for par. Furyk had hit his tee shot into the high rough on the left, hacked out to a bunker on the left and blasted onto the green. His 4 kept him at par for the Open. But he bogeyed the next hole to fall into a tie with Simpson and hit a snap hook on the par-5 16th that led to another bogey that dropped him to 2 over.

So excitement came in all denominations, especially the four birdies on Nos. 6, 7, 8 and 10 that put Simpson right in the hunt. Simpson had been on the fringes all week, but he had remained close enough to par to make his Sunday interesting, and ultimately rewarding.

It had been obvious, the way the Olympic Club course was set up, that the final day was going to require a mix of daring and patience — and the wisdom to know when to use which.

“The guys that go out there and deal with the conditions and situations the best,” Furyk had said, “and find a way to get through those difficult holes with par . . . Those are the guys who have an opportunity to win the last few holes.”

It was Simpson who finished with eight pars, who came in with the best score and maybe settled an old score.