Joy ride

NORTON -- In pursuit of a dream, they would drive from their home outside of Philadelphia to New York, over the George Washington Bridge and all the way up Interstate 95 through Connecticut and Rhode Island.

Said Jackie O'Hair: ''People would tell us it was the wrong route to take, but . . ."

But what do those people know? What do they know about being in love and believing in one another and wanting to share in each other's life? So Sean and Jackie chose that route and agreed that they'd let it take them where it may.

They just never thought they'd get to this spot quite this fast or in a manner that makes their heads spin.

''It's definitely crazy, very exciting," said Jackie O'Hair, and to understand how much she speaks the truth, consider that one year ago the love of her life, her husband Sean, was playing minitour golf from Samoset, Maine, to Brewster on Cape Cod, grinding and sweating and competing for purses that totaled $86,400, and today he's a 23-year-old who has earned more than $2 million and is very much a contender in a PGA Tour show called the Deutsche Bank Championship that boasts a $5.5 million purse.

Now, what were people saying about that route?

A pair of hearts
The practice range at TPC Boston was end-to-end with golfers who've made it to the PGA Tour in a variety of ways. They've come from Australia and India, Sweden and South Africa. They're household names and unheralded journeymen. They're rich and not-so-rich. Then there's Sean O'Hair, whose story is perhaps the feel-good bonanza of them all.

So much of it has been out there for months -- the boy groomed to be a superstar by an overzealous father; the years at the specialized golf academy; the tactics used to get the most out of the kid; the decision to forgo a normal high school experience, never mind college, and chase the grueling pro golf life at the tender age of 17; the slap-in-the-face realities brought on by failure; and the painful breaking point when son and father became estranged.

If the story ended there, it would be like so many others, but Jackie O'Hair rewrote the script. Tragic became brilliant.

''It was meant to be. She's my guardian angel. She came around at the right time," said Sean O'Hair. ''She always believed that I would make it out here [on the PGA Tour]."

Maybe not this quickly, but yes, Jackie O'Hair believed. And to cement their belief in one another, they chose New England. Specifically, they chose a minitour circuit -- the Cleveland Golf Tour -- that Sean O'Hair may no longer need, but one to which he'll forever be indebted.

''I looked at all the minitours and it was the best-run of them all. No one was better," said O'Hair. ''I'll never forget [tour founder] Brian Hebb and everything he did for me. Getting to the PGA Tour is all about being prepared and the Cleveland Golf Tour prepared me."

Estranged from his father after a few aimless years as a teenage professional, O'Hair found Jackie Lucas at a golf course in South Florida. Actually, she found him because Sean claims he was far too shy to say anything. Their first ''date," if you will, was a round of golf and the young lady who had played at Florida International impressed the young pro.

''There's no doubt in my mind she could be playing on the [LPGA] Tour if she wanted," said Sean.

Jackie's family became Sean's family. Their home became Sean's home. And after Sean and Jackie were married, they sat down and talked of his future. It was agreed that the summer of 2003 would best be spent playing the Cleveland Golf Tour, a series of 10 events that would begin in early June. He'd play, she'd caddie.

''It wasn't about location and it wasn't about being comfortable," said Sean. ''It was about the competition. The Cleveland Golf Tour offered great competition."

To prepare for the competition, the O'Hairs invested in a black Ford F-150 truck that had a cover that stretched over the back, beneath which they kept all their Rubbermaid bins.

''We'd get back from the golf course and we'd all be staying at the same hotel, and we'd watch them unload their Rubbermaid bins," said Andrew Dearborn, tour director for the CGT. ''They had the plates, the hot plates, all their dishes -- everything they needed. It was kind of neat."

Jackie O'Hair: ''It wasn't glamorous, but I guess everyone was working to get to the same place."

Sean O'Hair: ''We cooked chicken, a lot of Hamburger Helper, all sorts of stuff. It was cheaper, but while money was definitely an issue, we liked being together. There are a lot of good memories."

Perhaps highest on the list is Sean's first win, at Blackstone National in Sutton, a victory that Dearborn suggests was career-altering. ''The first thing I remember about Sean is how good a swing he had. He looked like a strong player and always was challenging the top players. But that win put him in another level."

The O'Hairs enjoyed all flavors of New England that summer, the mountains of Vermont and New Hampshire, the rocky coast of Maine, the small towns of Massachusetts. Sean had a special place in his heart for a hotel near Samoset called the Navigator; they both agreed that the tournament at Captains Golf Course in Brewster was their favorite.

''Nauset Beach? We loved it," said Jackie O'Hair.

''Just to chill out, to be together," said Sean. ''It wasn't like work; it was like a vacation where we'd do a little work."

Dearborn said that the O'Hairs were inseparable and united in a common goal. Make that the three of them, for Palmer was very much a part of the show.

''He was our yellow lab. Sean and I picked him out as puppy," said Jackie. ''We took him with us."

That's Palmer, as in Arnold Palmer, of course.

''We were going to get a chocolate lab and call him Hogan," she said. ''Only we never got the chocolate lab."

What they got was motorhome.

Driven to succeed
''It was a 2003 Fleetwood Discovery, a 40-footer," said Sean O'Hair, whose father's parents bought it for them. He was estranged from his father, but not from them. Their support made things easier in the summer of 2004 as the O'Hairs and their motorhome became quite a sight on the CGT.

Until it came time to park.

''We'd always look for a Wal-Mart," said Jackie. ''They were nice enough to allow you to stay overnight."

At the Cape Cod Open early last summer, Sean O'Hair had to park it in a corner of Hyannis Golf Club. He finished tied for 17th and took home a check for $187. If it occurred to him that this was no way to make a living, Jackie refused to let him ponder that for long. Even when she became pregnant and they decided she shouldn't caddie, she remained his faithful copilot in the motorhome.

''I tried to drive it once, but it wasn't for me," she said. ''He was good at it, though."

He was better at golf and when he won a tournament at Sterling CC, people really took notice. He shot a blistering 62, prevailed in a playoff, and was the CGT's leading money-winner. Sean O'Hair decided to set his sights on Marshfield's Geoff Sisk, the perennial Player of the Year and a guy who'd made the cut at the US Open.

''Geoff spent a lot of time with him," said Hebb. ''He helped mentor him." And indeed, Sean O'Hair showers praise on Sisk.

''But I would tell him, 'Don't be focused on just me,' " said Sisk. ''Just go out and play your best."

For most of last summer, O'Hair's best made him the leading money-winner, but at Samoset to wrap up the season, Sisk put on a performance typical for him -- steel-eyed and mistake-free -- won the tournament, and edged O'Hair for the money title.

Some thought that disappointment would linger with O'Hair, but it didn't. There was too much golf to be played and soon he was wrapped up in the annual grind called the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament. O'Hair had failed to get through in 1999 and in each fall thereafter, but his sixth try -- at the tender age of 22, no less -- was a remarkable one. He breezed through Stage 1 and Stage 2, then, at the 108-hole final exam, he shined. With father-in-law Steve on his bag, Sean O'Hair never shot higher than 72 and finished tied for fourth. Less than five weeks later, he was playing in his first PGA Tour event, the Sony Open in Hawaii, a fashionable way to begin his rookie season.

Waikiki Beach is a long way from Nauset Beach, but that part of the story doesn't faze the O'Hairs. But the win at the John Deere Classic a few months ago? And the whirlwind trip to St. Andrews for the British Open? And the $2,026,262 he has already earned in a season that will end with a Rookie of the Year honor? Well, OK, it gives Sean and Jackie O'Hair reason to look at each other and smile and shake their heads.

''We were just talking about the trip up New England [for the Deutsche Bank Championship] before we left," said Jackie. ''It's amazing. Just last year he tried to Monday qualify for this tournament and he didn't get in. It's all so overwhelming."

''She is basically why I'm here," said Sean.

The motorhome has been sold and now that daughter Molly has joined the family and there is a lot more traveling, Sean and Jackie decided it was best to find another home for Palmer. His friends with the Cleveland Golf Tour are still his friends, though no longer his weekly competitors. Except for Sisk, of course, whose grit and great talent earned him a spot into the Deutsche Bank Championship via Monday qualifying and when they crossed paths at TPC Boston the other day, they had smiles and good wishes for one another.

The drive from Philadelphia over the George Washington Bridge and up I-95? They could have done it, yes, but for this golf experience, Sean and Jackie flew into Providence. It's a sign of how things have changed, but Jackie O'Hair will never forget how those times meandered through New England.

''This is the dream he worked so hard and so long for," she said. ''He deserves it."