Nathan Smith was hopeful he’d be swinging golf clubs for pay by now as a member of the PGA Tour. Instead, what he’s doing now is re-learning the golf swing with a shoulder that’s better than anything he’s ever experienced. Smith, a native of Brookville, had a 2004 that was actually hard to believe. In early April of last year, he was walking the fairways with Arnold Palmer at Augusta National Golf Club, two weeks later, he blew out his shoulder in another tournament and ended up missing the entire season of golf. “I had surgery May 3, and four months later, I was still going through a lot of therapy, trying to get back range of motion,” said Smith, who graduated yesterday from Clarion University with an MBA in business. “The therapy was tough, painful. And it was difficult to be on the sideline. It wasn’t until late September that I was able to start hitting little chips, short 30-40 yard shots.” Smith tore the labrum in his left shoulder, requiring surgery that tightened the joint to such a degree that it forced Smith to do a couple things. “I’m trying to remember how to play golf and I tried to sit down with (teacher) Don Sargent and figure out how it happened and how to prevent it from happening again,” Smith said. “I’m still doing my therapy and it’s getting better all the time.” It obviously was pretty good earlier this week when Smith and long-time friend Sean Knapp teamed to win the 51st Fred Brand Foursomes Championship held at Longue Vue Club. “As I’ve gone through this process, golf has been secondary a lot of the time,” Smith admitted. “I was aiming for a long time for just being able to take care of myself, you know, things like brushing my teeth and putting a shirt on.” What’s the future hold for the guy who had hoped to take a crack at PGA Tour qualifying school last year• “I’m going to play a lot of amateur events this summer, trying to make a late push to qualify for the Walker Cup and see where I am,” Smith said. “I would assume that things will become much clearer as the summer goes along. I’d eventually like to try Q school, sure.” Match Play Championship The Tri-State Section PGA’s first big event of the year will be contested this week at Youghiogheny Country Club near McKeesport. The Match Play Championship features stroke-play qualifying Monday morning to get into the match play portion, which starts Monday afternoon and continues Tuesday and Wednesday. Defending champion Bob Ford of Oakmont Country Club will be trying to win his third Match Play title (he also won in 1997). Singh-Daly part deux The two PGA Tour players sponsored by 84 Lumber, John Daly and Vijay Singh, will play a nine-hole exhibition June 6 at the Mystic Rock Golf Course at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Farmington. There is no admission charge to the event, which will start at 10 a.m. on the 10th tee at Mystic Rock. Fans will get to walk the fairways behind the two players as they play the back nine. Free parking will be available and signs along Route 40 will direct spectators to those areas. Daly and Singh will take a shot at $1 million for the 84 Lumber Classic Charities. On the newly-designed par 3 12th hole, if either player, or their amateur partner, makes a hole-in-one on the 3,300 square foot peninsula green, a million dollars will be distributed among the more than 80 local and regional charities which benefit from the 84 Lumber Classic. Those charities are selling reduced price tickets — $10 — through June 5, all of which goes to the charities. They are also eligible for additional funding, based on charity ticket redemption. Beginning June 6, full price tickets will be available at 84 Lumber Stores, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, and online at www.84lumberclassic.com, or by calling 1-877-GO-C-8484. Irwin makes friends Only one player has had more success in the Senior PGA Championship than Hale Irwin. The legendary Sam Snead won the tournament six times, two more than Irwin. The former safety on the University of Colorado football team has fashioned his tremendous career around that football toughness and has gained a reputation of being very focused and having tunnel-vision while he’s playing. Over the years, he’s also been tagged with the reputation of being a little grumpy at times, testy at others. He was anything but that last Monday at Laurel Valley Golf Club where a media event was held to kick off the stretch drive of ticket sales for the 66th Senior PGA, which will be held May 23-29. He and honorary chairman and host professional Arnold Palmer competed in a three-hole shootout with three members of the media also on each team. On the par 5 11th tee, two of Irwin’s teammates took mighty swings, one resulting in a high, hooking drive that had designs on making the adjacent 10th fairway and the other which seemed intent on burrowing to China through the hole it made in the tee box. “Where am I supposed to tee off?” Irwin asked nobody in particular after watching that spectacle. “There’s a ditch over here and this hole here.” He drew laughter from those following the players and sheepish grins from his partners. Tickets for the tournament in Ligonier can be obtained by calling 800-PGA-GOLF or on the internet at www.seniorpga2005.com. Weekly passes and daily tickets range in price from $10 for a daily practice round ticket to $90 for a weekly grounds pass.

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