NORTON — Jon Curran, the other golfer from Hopkinton, arrived at TPC Boston on Tuesday to play in his first Deutsche Bank Championship. Best pal Keegan Bradley, that other, better known club handler from Hopkinton, didn’t make it.

“It’s weird,’’ said a regretful Curran, who’ll tee off at TPC Boston on Friday for the start of the $8.5 million PGA Tour stop, the second leg of the season-ending FedExCup playoffs. “Keegan’s obviously a great player, and he’s been playing great the last quarter of the season, and now . . . he just falls short.

“Golf. It can be just brutal.’’

Bradley, with more than $16.5 million in career earnings, missed out on another trip to the Bay State when he finished T53 at The Barclays last weekend at Bethpage Black. But for a stroke or two, he would have qualified for this week’s field of 100 with a chance to pocket the tournament’s $1.53 million top prize.

Instead, Bradley’s back with family and friends in Vermont, and Curran, who graduated from Hopkinton High in 2005, a year after Bradley, is here for the first time as a pro. While Bradley took the PGA Tour by storm five years ago, Curran’s ascent was slower, a test of patience and fortitude, until finally earning his Tour card in 2014, some five years after departing Vanderbilt.

Curran, 29, has yet to win on Tour, but he made the cut in 17 of his 28 tournaments this season, finished three times in the top 10, and boosted his career earnings to $2.98 million. That other kid from Hopkinton, only 35 miles up the road, is doing OK for himself.

“Sometimes you can’t explain it,’’ said Curran, who spent a couple of hours Tuesday at the putting green and driving range, limbering up after his T68 at The Barclays. “It comes down to really playing well at the right time. It’s really tough out here. You need the right break. You need to take advantage of the right moments when you have a chance to play well.’’

The Deutsche Bank, won last year by Rickie Fowler, perennially summons the best in New England weather. Based on FedExCup points, the top 100 players after the Barclays advanced to TPC Boston. Bradley, slotted 106th going into The Barclays, pulled up short at 103. Curran ranks No. 60. Barclays winner Patrick Reed leads the chase for the $10 million season-ending prize.

It was Curran’s nascent salesmanship skills in high school that led Bradley, visiting Hopkinton in the summer of 2003, to forge a friendship and career path between the two. Born and raised in Vermont, Bradley was in Hopkinton that summer because his father, who worked in the ski and golf industry, opted to take a job in the area as a change of pace.

By the end of the summer, after near-daily rounds of golf and nightly rounds of talking golf with his new pal, Curran had successfully badgered Keegan to move to Hopkinton and play for Hopkinton High. The Hillers, coached by Dick Bliss, promptly won the high school state championship in ’03, and in ’04 Bradley was off to play college golf at St. John’s. A year later, Curran departed for Vanderbilt, and it would be nearly a decade before they would see each other again routinely on the Tour.

“We’re really, really close,’’ said Curran, whose permanent residence these days is in Jupiter, Fla. “We’re basically a team.’’

Earlier this year, when Curran was in contention for his first Tour victory, Bradley and Brendan Steele, another close pal of Curran’s, were greenside for Curran’s second playoff hole at the Memorial in Dublin, Ohio. William McGirt won the hole and took the title, but Curran was especially moved to have Bradley there for him.

“So Sunday [at Bethpage], I was pulling for him to get the points to get here,’’ Curran said. ‘’I was pulling for him, big time.’’

The Memorial, where Curran pocketed $918,000, remains his biggest single pay day. He also played well at The Players Championship (T39) and the PGA Championship (T33), but failed to make the cut this month at the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Conn. (golf, it can be brutal).

Over the last couple of years, noted Curran, he has worked with local sports psychologist and BU grad Greg Cartin. He said he feels Cartin’s guidance has helped him remain relaxed and focused on the course, two keys that Curran said have aided in his recent success.

“He’s gotten me to the point where I won’t try to force it or be frantic,’’ Curran said. “Because you can be in those situations out there. I remember when I was [just starting] on the Web.com tour, it seemed like it took forever for me to get there. And from working with Greg, I was more calm on the golf course, I was able to handle situations better.’’

Part of his mental improvement, said Curran, came in being able to quell his anger after a bad shot. But of greater importance has been his ability to handle significant moments, when emotions could prove his undoing.

“Things like you’re in a position where you’re playing well,’’ he said, “and say you’re about to get your PGA Tour card or get your Web.com card or win a tournament. You can handle that situation a lot better. A lot of times, you get in a situation where you have a chance to win, and something happens throughout a round . . . it’s pretty much for sure something is going to happen to test your nerves.’’

Curran picked up clubs prior to first grade when his dad, Peter, started to teach him the basics of the game.

“Basically then, it was to hang out with him,’’ recalled Curran, whose father died in 2012. “I took a liking to it pretty quickly. All my friends growing up were golfers. We grew up at the course. I caddied a little, too, but I was basically a golfer from the time I can remember. I was taking it pretty seriously by my early teens.’’

A year ago, said Curran, he “would have died’’ to play in the Deutsche Bank. It was his first year on Tour, he was having success, and returning home would help frame his story. It didn’t happen.

“I was so bummed,’’ he said. ‘’I just didn’t get through Barclays. But now it’s awesome to get here. Really cool. I played here in high school, but really this is only my second time here, so I am pumped about it.’’

Curran expects the course to be dry and hard. He was back home a month ago to play in a charity tournament at Ferncroft hosted by ex-Bruin Shawn Thornton. Another 30 or so days into a summer-long drought, he figures, will have firmed up even some of New England’s greenest tundra.

“I think it will be a challenge . . . this course has its challenges,’’ he said. “But honestly, coming off last week at Bethage Black, anything will be a relief. That was really tough . . . brutal.’’

So tough, in fact, it sent his best pal Bradley back home for a respite. Meanwhile, the other kid from Hopkinton plays on.

Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at kevin.dupont@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeKPD.