With his father as his caddie, Nathan Smith of North Hills turned in a masterful performance to capture a United States Golf Association championship for a second time and a likely second invitation to the Masters.

Smith soared to an 8-up lead over Tim Spitz of Rochester, N.Y., in a morning round and sealed his triumph by having a 7-up lead with six to play in the U.S. Mid-Amateur final at the Cassique course of The Kiawah Island Club in South Carolina.

The winner of the Mid-Amateur generally gets an invitation to play the Masters.

"I'm speechless," Smith, 31, said of a second opportunity to compete at Augusta National. "When I was there before, I felt like the luckiest man in the world."

Because of rain earlier in the week, Smith and Spitz fought it out over 36 holes yesterday on the 6,964-yard, par-72 course. Smith built his huge cushion with a bogey-free morning round in which he hit 10 of 14 fairways, 13 of 18 greens and had 28 putts, eight fewer than his opponent.

The day could have been summed up on the fifth hole of the morning round. Spitz, battling a balky putter, hit the flag stick on the par 3 and had a 10-inch birdie putt conceded. But Smith rolled in a 35-foot putt from the fringe to halve the hole.

The only hole he lost was in the afternoon round.

An investment adviser, Smith wore pink shirt for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

The U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship is open to amateur golfers who have reached their 25th birthday and who have a handicap of 3.4 or lower. A total of 4,188 players entered the tournament.

Smith won the Mid-Amateur in 2003, which earned him an invitation to the 2004 Masters. He was paired for two rounds with Arnold Palmer in Palmer's final two competitive rounds at Augusta National. A double-bogey-6 on the 18th hole in the second round cost Smith a chance of making the cut.

Larry Smith, a retired fifth-grade teacher, carried his son's bag yesterday, just as he did at the Masters.

With another Masters invitation almost certain to come, Smith earned a package of rewards. He received a gold medal similar to the one given the U.S. Amateur champion, and he begins a year's possession of the Robert Trent Jones Jr. Memorial Mid-Amateur trophy. The most famous of all amateurs, Jones won five U.S. Amateur and four U.S. Open titles.

In addition, Smith is exempt from local qualifying for the next three U.S. Open championships. He is also exempt from sectional qualifying for the next two U.S. Open Amateur championships.

The victory yesterday capped quite a year for Smith, a member of the 2009 Walker Cup team and the USGA's Men's Pennsylvania Team, both of which won their events. He also won the Pennsylvania Amateur for the second time and has won the West Penn Amateur three years running.

Smith is a 2001 graduate of Allegheny College, where he earned Division III All-American honors all four years. He is a member of the Wildwood Golf Club in Hampton and Pinecrest Country Club in Brookville, Pa.

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