It is not very often when an amateur is considered the favorite in a tournament featuring a select field of professional players. But that is probably the case when Nathan Smith, the first amateur in 37 years to win the West Penn Amateur and West Penn Open in the same year, competes in the 72-hole Frank B. Fuhrer Invitational that begins Monday at the Pittsburgh Field Club.

Who says so?

None other than the tournament host, who puts up the $125,000 purse that features $25,000 for the winner.

"I think he has to be," said Fuhrer, who has a field of 32 professionals and eight amateurs competing in the three-day event. "He's playing very well, he's won the thing before and he's used to playing 72 holes."

Smith won the Fuhrer Invitational in 2005, which was also staged at the Field Club, and he is coming off a five-stroke victory in the 108th West Penn Amateur and a one-shot victory at the 104th West Penn Open -- one of just four players and the first since Jim Masserio in 1971 to win each championship in the same year.

But Smith, 29, has not just been a factor in local events. He finished third in the Sunnehanna Amateur and second in the Northeast Amateur last month, two of the more prestigious amateur events in the country.

"It means a lot to win both, I don't even know how to put it into words," said Smith, who won the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship in '02. "It's tough to win the West Penn Open because it's a 36-hole sprint and you have to get out of the blocks quick. It's a tough championship to win."

Smith is one of eight amateurs who have received sponsors exemptions into the Fuhrer Invitational, joining Sean Knapp of Longue Vue, a former three-time winner; Dave Brown of St. Clair CC; Arnold Cutrell of Greensburg; Marquette senior Mike Van Sickle of Treesdale; Miami of Ohio sophomore Nathan Sutherland of Oakmont; former Penn State player Robert Rohanna; and Frank Fairman of Punxsutawney.

Two professionals also received sponsors exemptions -- former PGA Tour player Bob Friend of Oakmont and instructor Gene Walter of Pine Creek Golf.

This is the first of five consecutive years the tournament will be at the Field Club. And, for the first time, players have the option of using a cart for the second round only on Monday, when 36 holes will be played.

"I'm ready for a good one," Fuhrer said. "We have some good players and we have the best amateurs. They add to the field. Just like when we used to have the Family House tournaments, I'm only interested in having the best players possible."

Trivia

Inbee Park won the U.S. Women's Open Sunday at the age of 19 to become the youngest champion in tournament history. Who is the youngest player to win the men's U.S. Open? Answer at end.

Lose of 'a good egg'

Larry Hawk was always a busy man, and not just with the golf-club repair business called L&L Golf he ran out of his garage in McDonald.

He was a borough councilman, an emergency medical technician and paramedic and also gave free golf lessons to children at an indoor hitting area he had constructed in the basement of his home. Before that, he served with the U.S. Army Special Forces and had tours of duty in the Korean and Vietnam wars, receiving the Purple Heart Award.

But what Hawk really loved to do was repair clubs. He was certified as a PGA Class A club-maker and often repaired equipment for some of the stores and clubs in Western Pennsylvania, including Montour Heights and the Club at Nevillewood. And that doesn't include restoring clubs for a number of public-course players around the area.

"A good egg ... just one of the guys," said Mike Bertha, a longtime friend and Baldwin native who is the tour technician for the Champions Tour. "He loved the business. He got his certificate and he would hang around with the tour guys when they played the Senior Tour and Nationwide events at Quicksilver. He would always stop by and help me out at [Mario] Lemieux's tournament at Nevillewood. He got around -- that was Larry."

I called Hawk last week because I had a couple grips I wanted changed and a shaft I wanted replaced. I had visited him several times in his shop over the years and always loved seeing all the clubs that needed to be repaired stacked against his counter, waiting for his professional touch. Most of all, I enjoyed just talking to Larry, him asking me about golf and me asking him about equipment and technology.

When I called, his wife, Lucy, answered the phone. She told me Larry died March 29. He was 75.

There are many golfers in Western Pennsylvania who don't even know they are using clubs that were re-gripped or even re-shafted by Hawk.

Those who do will maybe want to squeeze the grip just a little tighter today.

Senior advantage

Mitch Camp of Aurora, Ohio, didn't waste any time taking advantage of his first attempt to qualify for the U.S. Senior Open.

He shot 5-under 66 yesterday at Oak Tree Country Club in West Middlesex to grab the only qualifying spot in a field of 38 players that included several of the top senior players from Western Pennsylvania.

"That's what happens when you turn 50 -- you get excited about competing in events like this," said Camp, the head golf professional at Walden Country Club.

Camp overcame back-to-back bogeys at Nos. 9 and 10 to finish four shots ahead of John Aubrey of Butler and Scott Davis of Hurricane, W.Va. He advanced to the U.S. Senior Open July 31-Aug. 3 at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Dissa and data

• The West Penn Golf Association has canceled its Senior Inter-Club Championship, scheduled for Monday at Diamond Run, because of few entries. However, after considering a similar move, the WPGA will stage its Public Links Championship July 17 at Treasure Lake CC in DuBois.

• After finishing third in the U.S. Women's Open in her first start as a professional, Stacy Lewis signed an endorsement contract Tuesday with Mizuno, the only American woman paid to play the company's clubs.

• Lorena Ochoa has joined Golf Digest as a playing editor, a deal that includes her contributions to Golf Digest and Golf For Women magazines.

Trivia answer

John McDermott was 19 when he won the U.S. Open in 1911.