Must be something about a five-week break for his wedding and European honeymoon that energized Justin Smith.

In his first competitive round after returning from his vacation, the 27-year-old mini-tour player who played golf at Moon High School and won the PIAA championship in 1999, shot 63 in a Hooters Tour event in Austin, Texas, two weeks ago.

Yesterday, less than two months removed from his June 27 wedding, he played as relaxed as a newlywed can be when he added another state title to his resume -- the Pennsylvania Open at Oakmont Country Club.

After opening with a 77 the first day of the three-day, 54-hole event, Smith made 11 birdies in the final two rounds and charged from five shots off the 36-hole lead to beat Stuart Ingraham of Harrisburg by two shots. Smith shot a final-round 68 that included just one bogey -- a three-putt from 25 feet at the par-3 16th -- to finish at par-213.

"I played great," said Smith, who lives in St. Paul, Minn., not far from the University of Minnesota campus where he was a three-time All-American and the 2002 NCAA individual champion. "Anytime you can come out here, even though the conditions were favorable, and shoot under par on this course you feel good about it."

Indeed, Smith was the only player to post two rounds in the 60s at Oakmont, which produced just nine sub-70 rounds over three days. Even both of the 36-hole leaders -- former Penn State player Robert Rohanna (78) of Waynesburg and Butler Country Club head professional Rob McClellan (77) -- struggled after beginning the final round at 2-under 140.

Ingraham, who opened with a 67 that included a birdie-par-eagle-birdie finish, was the only other player under par after 36 holes, but he double-bogeyed No. 15 and shot 74. He finished at 215.

Even two-time defending champion Mike Van Sickle, an amateur from Marquette University and Treesdale Golf & Country Club, couldn't catch Smith, despite a final-round 68 that left him at 217.

"I wasn't thinking about anything before the round," said Smith, a three-time winner on the Hooters Tour who has played in seven events this year with four top-10 finishes. "I'm not a guy who has a number [I have to shoot] in my head. I just thought if I put the ball in play, there's no reason I can't have birdie chances out there."

There weren't many of those on the first day at Oakmont, when the firm, fast conditions produced a scoring average of 80.373 and featured seven scores higher than 90. But after rain each of the past two nights softened the fairways and the slick, tilted putting surfaces, some players were able to take advantage of the improved scoring conditions. Smith was one of them.

He had what he called "maybe my best driving day ever," missed only two greens in regulation and made four birdies -- three on the final seven holes. The stretch began when he hit a wedge to 8 feet at the par-5 12th, a 6-iron to 6 feet at the 196-yard 13th and nearly holed a pitch shot for eagle from 27 yards at the short par-4 17th, his ball stopping just one rotation from the hole.

His only mistake came when he misread a 5-foot par putt at the par-3 16th, the ball cruelly spinning out of the hole and coming right back at him.

"I was hitting the exact shots I was envisioning," Smith said.

Smith wasn't even supposed to be in the field. Because all the qualifiers for the tournament were held during his honeymoon, he had to petition the Pennsylvania Golf Association for a sponsors exemption. Smith is eligible to play in the event because his family lives in Franklin, Pa., and he still pays state taxes.

"I wouldn't miss this for anything," Smith said.

Just like his wedding.