It all boiled down to 3 1/2 feet.

Finishing in the next to last twosome, Farren, 36, head professional at Totteridge Golf Club in Greensburg, Pa., stood behind the 18^th green as Kevin Shields of Bethel Park, Pa. nailed a 139-yard 9-iron out of a left fairway bunker to 3½ feet.

Shields, 33, an assistant pro at Mount Lebanon Golf Course in Pittsburgh, needed the putt to tie Farren and force a playoff. He missed right on the slick, breaking putt.

Both golfers had trailed H. Robert McClellan, 25, of Butler, Pa., a professional at Olde Stonewall Golf Club in Ellwood City, Pa., for much of the last nine holes. McClellan had fired a 3-under-par 33 on the front nine to lead Shields by two shots and Farren by four at the turn.

But he lost the lead with two disastrous holes on Nos. 13 and 14. Starting on 13, a 421-yard par 4, he was 12-under after a birdie on the 559-yard par-4 10^th hole. But he three- putted from 30 feet.

Then he hit a drive left against a boundary fence on the 439-yard par 4 14^th, pitched out across the fairway under a tree, pitched back across the fairway into thick rough and double-bogeyed the hole.

Shields also had his chances, tied for the lead at 12 under on the tee at the 203-yard par 3 17^th. But he hit his tee shot long left into the rough, chipped six feet short and missed the putt for a bogey.

Meanwhile, Farren was tearing up the back nine with birdies on Nos. 10, 11, 13, 14, 16 and 17, with putts ranging from 15 feet to six inches. He lasered a 3-iron to six inches on No. 13 and a 4-iron to a foot on No. 17.

On No. 18, (409 yards, par 4) he hit his second shot short into the rough but chipped from 45 feet to 18 inches for the par that clinched the championship.

Farren said the key to his win was his iron play, as he sprayed several drives. "As long as I had an iron in my hands, I felt OK."

He said his first state championship was "really special." "I looked at the championship trophy this morning, and I saw all those awesome names on it, and its pretty special to have my name on it, too."

Also special, he said, is that last year’s champion, Ryan Sikora of Greensburg, Pa., is now his assistant at Totteridge GC.

Low amateur at 8-under-par 209 was Tyler Brewington, 19, of Orangeville, Pa., who plays to a plus 2.2 handicap out of Mill Race Golf Course in Benton, Pa., and is a member of the Rider University golf team in Trenton, N.J.

He was one shot better than Roc Irey of Warrington, Pa, first round co-leader with a 5-under 67, who carded an overall 7-under-par 209.

"I putted really, really well all week," Brewington said. "I thought for a while I had a real shot at the leaders. It was fun."

Is there professional golf in his future? "That’s my long-term goal," he said. "I’ve got some big decisions to make."

The top 30 scores and ties for this year's Pennsylvania Open are exempt from next year’s Open at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Farmington, Pa., site of the PGA Tour's 84 Lumber Classic.