NORTON, Mass. – While events such as the PGA Tour’s Deutsche Bank Championship which finished Monday have a high caliber of play, none of the competitors started there.

That’s where tournaments such as the Greater Bangor Open come in.

Tour Rookie of the Year candidate Sean O’Hair of Boothwyn, Pa., will vouch for that.

“It’s part of the process,” said O’Hair, who played in the GBO in 2003 and 2004. “You’ve got to learn on different levels, physically and mentally. (They’re) very important.”

Since he has made the jump to the PGA Tour, he can now make a comparison between the respective levels of play.

“It’s a lot different, totally different,” said O’Hair.

He points to two reasons.

“They (the non-tour players) don’t work as hard as guys out here,” he said, admitting that the same was true for him, also.

“Last year, I didn’t work as hard as I did this year. That’s because I didn’t see (what he needed to do),” O’Hair said.

Sometimes, they don’t work as hard or as long, he said, because it’s just not physically possible.

“Out here, when I get here, I’m here all week. You can work all week on your game. Quite often, [on the way up] you can do two [tournaments] a week,” pointed out O’Hair.

“That said, it’s closer than you think,” he added.

He discounts the view that the only thing an upcoming player needs is a break to make the jump.

“If it’s meant to happen, it’s going to happen,” he said. “I’m not a big believer in luck. I believe in making your own luck.”

He is proof it can be done.

“There are a lot of players out there who can play here,” he said.

And what advice does he have for young players who may be contemplating following in his footsteps?

“Follow your heart. Keep your dreams in mind,” he said.

O’Hair knows that train can be derailed.

“It’s easy to lose faith. I did for a while coming up,” said O’Hair, whose father made a business decision to make his son a Tour player. He pushed Sean until Sean didn’t want to do it anymore.

Since he split with his father, the dream has become his again and he has made it work.

“You’ve gotta believe it’s going to happen,” he said.

Christmas in September

A number of people stopped to shake hands and say hi.

Former Paul Bunyan Amateur champ Dan Sargent of Ellsworth and his girlfriend Bev Grindle were the first ones I ran into, and Sugarloaf Golf Club assistant pro Mike Baker, who played in this event last year, and his girlfriend Liz checked in to watch Sunday River Golf Club head pro John Hickson.

Hickson also had a large contingent of family members in attendance, understandably, including his wife Nancy and son Benjamin, his sister Karen, and his parents Betty and John Hickson Sr. of Hampden.

I also ran into my dental hygienist, Nancy Crotty, and her husband Steve of Holden.

They were sitting next to the ninth fairway when I ran into them, but Nancy said they had set up on other parts of the course as well where Steve could check out a number of holes.

“This is a great thing for the area to have something like this close,” said Nancy.

“Actually, this is Steve’s Christmas present,” she added. “I just make sure I order enough so I can come, too.”

She said they would probably let their daughter Kate and her boyfriend Bob Baldacci III use their tickets for Monday’s final round.

I’d have talked to her longer, but I was trying to keep my mouth shut.

If the shoe fits…

As the players walk “autograph alley” after they turn in their scorecards, they often ask the players or their caddies to give them a ball.

On Sunday, Justin Leonard did more than that, he gave one fan his golf shoes.

Nice tie

Marcel Siem of Duesseldorf, Germany, played with Baker in the first two rounds of last year’s Deutsche Bank and made the cut.

This year, he looked to be in trouble after an opening 3-over-par 74, but he tied the course record Saturday with a 9-under 62 to propel himself near the top of the leaderboard.

I am the stats man

Hickson had no reason to be upset with his performance Friday and Saturday.

Out of the field of 156 players, he finished tied for 62nd in fairways hit with 18 out of 28 (64 percent), tied for 79th in greens in regulation (22 of 36, 61 percent), and tied for 133rd on putts with 62.

His driving distance average on the 443-yard, par-4 13th hole was 303 yards; it was 295 on the 464-yard, par-4 sixth hole.

Oh yeah, the food

Hot dogs were $4.25 this year – each. That’s up 75 cents over last year. (I’m told they’re $5 at Fenway Park.)

A 20-ounce bottle of water was $2.50, and the same size Coke was $3.50.

A cup of beer was $5, and sandwiches were $5 and up.

A small bag of potato chips was $2.50.

Skyrocketing gas prices – as high as $3.659 a gallon for regular – almost made the food and beverages look like a bargain.