They are as different as they could possibly be, and yet Gateway Tour players Brian Kontak and Beniot Bessier share a lot in common.
          Most notably, the two pros from the Valley share the same marquee along with 10 other hopefuls in the upcoming edition of “The Big Break: Mesquite,’’ which starts a 12-week run Oct. 2 on The Golf Channel. The winner gets the ultimate prize in Big Break history – an exemption into a 2008 tournament on the PGA Tour.
          “It was an intense two weeks of filming, and a great experience, but I can’t say a word (about the outcome). Otherwise, I’d have to kill you,’’ chided the 35-year-old Kontak, a former All-American at Scottsdale Community College who holds all the records on the Gateway Tour including most wins (eight) and money ($511,389).
          “Definitely a good time,’’ added Bessier, 25, who is just coming into his own on the Scottsdale-based tour, where he posted his first career win this summer and ended up second on the money list ($45,382).
         Both Kontak, who lives in Phoenix, and Scottsdale’s Bessier are known as “characters,’’ and that goes a long way when it comes to casting The Big Break.
         Known as “The Intimidator,’’ Kontak is a grizzled, multi-tattooed veteran that sports a shaved head and often the growl that goes with it. He once tried to enter the U.S. Women’s Open in a rebuttal to Annika Sorenstam’s appearance on the PGA Tour in 2003, but was turned down after creating a well-publicized uproar.
         Bessier, who goes by “Wah’’ (a reference to his first name, which is pronounced: “ben-wah), is a mild-mannered, long-haired dude who wears a trademark fedora but is just as intense (with a tattoo of his own). Among his many exploits, Bessier has been a bull rider, bunji jumper, sky diver and skier. He broke his back playing hockey as a kid, and both of his thumbs in the past three years, the right one while holding off an attacker for police.
         Their paths to The Big Break were quite different, too.
          Kontak knows how he got in, as he is generally regarded by his peers as the “king of the minitours.’’ Among his travels he has played on the Western States, Dakota and Hooters circuits, as well as the Nike/Nationwide and Canadian tours.
         Bessier, however, had took a vastly different route, as his sister, Laura London, was a contestant in both “The Big Break: Trump National’’ and “The Big Break: Reunion Tour,’’ the sixth and seventh episodes in the series.
         “Oh, yeah, Laura had something to do with it, for sure,’’ Bessier said, laughing. “I think one thing was they knew her already, but we also sent in a ‘spoof videotape’ and that might have had something to do with it, too.’’
         The tape has Bessier getting a phone call from The Golf Channel, which tells him he has been selected for Mesquite, a golf hotbed outside Las Vegas. Then Bessier turns to his sister, who is listening to his conversation, and says: “I’m in! But, Laura, what am I going to wear?’’ To which London, who is known for wearing all-black clothing that she actually makes herself, responds: “I have some ideas, Wah.’’
         The next sequence(s) shows Bessier coming out of the bathroom dressed in one of Laura’s black tops and black skirts while parading around to the music, “I’m Too Sexy.’’ After modeling three more of her outfits and strutting his “stuff,’’ London says to her brother: “Nice, Benoit! Now that we know what you’re going to wear, let’s go practice.’’
         Actually, Bessier has been on fire lately, as he played in 10 Gateway events this summer and finished in the top 10 eight times. He probably would have won the money title (he finished $1,981 behind No. 1 Chris Kaman), but Bessier missed two tournaments while filming The Big Break.
        In the end, both found TV to be just as challenging as playing golf.
        “You see these people miss the first question on ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire?’ and you think, ‘What a dummie!’ ’’ Kontak said. “Then you get the TV cameras on you for the whole world to see, and you realize it can happen to you, too.’’
       Bessier also felt the heat of the klieg lights. “I had heard all the horror stories about what can go wrong from Laura, so I was probably a little better prepared than most,’’ he said. “But it was a 14-day grind.’’
       According to Ryan Palmer, the tournament director of the Gateway Tour, both Kontak and Bessier are “money players,’’ so he expects them to do well when the series is unveiled.
        “It’s certainly a lot of excitement for the Gateway, to watch two of ‘our guys’ compete for a chance to play on the PGA Tour,’’ he said.
        That’s not all, as the winner gets $10,000 contracts from Adams Golf and Dick’s Sporting Goods, as well as 2008 Chrysler Sebring convertible. The exemption for the PGA Tour event has yet to be announced.