CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Jim Furyk thinks it might be the swing.

People see that unconventional loop-di-loop of his and immediately think that he must be gritty to be able to compete against players more classically trained. Regardless of the reason, though, Furyk is comfortable with the adjective when it’s applied to him.

“I take that as a compliment,” he said. “I can't name any of the best players in the world today that aren't tough, that aren't gritty. Tiger Woods is the best player in the world, and there is no one tougher.

“They stick up there in the heat of the battle and under pressure…. I think the guys who are tough and gritty are guys that can hit a really good shot under pressure, and if not, go find it and figure out a way to get the ball in the hole.”

That’s exactly what Furyk did on this cold, rainy Sunday at the Wachovia Championship. He didn’t give up, even when he lost the 54-hole lead and trailed by three strokes at the turn, and he found a way to get the job done -- beating Trevor Immelman on the first hole of sudden death.

A year ago, Furyk had been in Immelman’s position, denied the title by Vijay Singh on the fourth playoff hole. On Sunday, he got to celebrate the 11th win of his solid PGA TOUR career by punching at the sky when his 5-footer for par curled into the hole.

“It had been since last July,” explained Furyk, who continued to walk around the green with his fists clenched, taking in the scene for several minutes. “I think if there was anything extra (in the celebration), I just like to win -- period. Eleven sounds better than 10. This is No. 11.

“Probably getting so close (at Hilton Head) a few weeks ago and losing here last year in a playoff (made it more special). I regard this as a really good event. It’s a big golf course and a strong field.”

A strong field, indeed. No less than eight of the top-10 players in the world were on hand at the Quail Hollow Club this week, and Furyk overtook one of them up-close-and-personal, playing partner and fourth-ranked Retief Goosen, on the way to the title Sunday.

Furyk closed with a 71 to finish at 12 under. Still, he needed to get up-and-down for par on the 72nd hole -- after a three-putt bogey from Immelman -- to get into the playoff. He then made a 5-footer for another par to seal the win on the same green 30 minutes later.

“I’ve seen enough of 18 for another year, I promise you that,” said a grinning Furyk, who played the demanding finale three times on Sunday in 2005 and twice more this year.

Furyk, who won the 2003 U.S. Open, is the third Wachovia Championship winner with a major championship to his credit -- joining David Toms and Vijay Singh. His $1.134 million payday pushed Furyk to second on the PGA TOUR money list, as well.

Even those who have followed Furyk’s solid career closely might be surprised to know that Sunday’s win was only his second in six previous playoffs on the PGA TOUR. His last came in his first -- the 1996 United Airlines Hawaiian Open, and Furyk is at a loss to explain the drought in the interim.

“I feel like I'm a pretty good match play player,” said Furyk whose singles record is 4-0 at the Presidents Cup is 4-0 and 3-0-1 at the Ryder Cup. “I don't know the reason, really. I've had some bad shots. I've gotten beaten by some really good shots.”

Last year at the Nedbank Challenge in South Africa, though, Furyk pitched in to win a four-way playoff after making bogey on the final hole. He said he thought about that victory on Sunday when he squared off against Immelman.

“I wouldn't say it got the monkey off my back, but it was nice to win and get that playoff thing out of the way,” Furyk admitted.

Jim Furyk has five top-10 finishes in 11 events in 2006. (Condon/PGA TOUR/ WireImage)

Sunday’s win was a confidence boost on the heels of the loss to Aaron Baddeley three weeks ago at the Verizon Heritage. Furyk led by two after 11 holes at Harbour Town on Sunday but the young Australian rallied and won his first PGA TOUR event with a clutch par on the 72nd hole.

“I was called an overachiever at Hilton Head,” Furyk recalled. “I could guess you could take that … as a compliment or as a back handed slap. I would prefer to take things as compliments because I didn't think that it was meant in a negative way.

“I would never consider myself the same as Tom Kite. Everyone always called him an overachiever, and every time I watch him he's got a heck of a lot of talent, so I don't get what that means. He's not flashy, so therefore he must have overachieved to get what he's done.”

Furyk, though, is cut from the same mold. He’s a workmanlike player -- blue collar, if you will, just like his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers -- who more often than not finds a way to get the job done just like he did on Sunday at Quail Hollow.

As he looks at his career, though, Furyk will tell you he probably should have won more than 11 tournaments. At the same time, he’s satisfied with what he’s accomplished -- but anxious to see what else is on the horizon.

“If I got hurt and could never play golf again, I would sit back and think about the things that I've accomplished and be very happy with them,” Furyk said. “I would have never thought 13 years ago that I would have played on that many Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup teams, won the U.S. Open, won 11 times, so I'm very proud of that.

“But tomorrow I think I'm going to be healthy, and that being said, I'm hoping to win a heck of a lot more golf tournaments. I'm not sitting on my rear end. I'm going to keep working, and I want to win a lot more golf tournaments.”