2008 PGA Tour Award Series: Player Of The Year
PGA Tour Player Of The Year: Padraig Harrington
Despite winning back-to-back majors at the British Open and The PGA Championship, it was by no means an easy decision to name Padraig Harrington the 2008 Player of the Year.
Tiger Woods only played in six events before undergoing season ending knee surgery. However, playing in a mere six events, Woods made a serious argument as to why he should have been awarded a 10thPGA Player of the year award.
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Woods won 4 out of the 6 events he played in including the US Open, while finishing 2nd at the Masters and 5that the WGC-CA Championship.
That makes Woods winning percentage an incredible 66.6% for the 2008 season, albeit this stat comes from only six events.
Woods also earned over $1 million more than Harrington in six events compared to the 15 tour events Harrington entered in 2008.
But, winning majors is what golfing greatness is all about and Harrington became the first player other than Woods to have won two consecutive major championships in the same season since Tom Watson won the US and British Opens back in 1982.
Harrington arrived on golf’s main stage with his playoff victory over Sergio Garcia at the 2007 British Open which was played at Carnoustie.
Harrington’s ability to defend his British Open title in 2008 was definitely a long shot.
Over the first three rounds of the 2008 British Open, played at Royal Birkdale, Harrington slowly but surely moved up the leader board.
Harrington played his way into the tournament’s final group where he was paired with Greg Norman of all people.
In some of the worst weather conditions seen at a British Open in recent memory, Harrington made every big shot at the most crucial moments of his final round.
When Harrington was finally in a position to put the tournament away, he turned his game up another notch, as all great champions do.
On the 17th hole, Harrington struck a 5-wood about as good as one could possibly expect to hit a fairway wood.
On the par-5 17th, Harrington’s five wood pierced Royal Birkdale’s swirling winds, landed just short of the green and rolled to within three feet of the hole where he would tap in his putt for an eagle.
Harrington’s 5-wood on the 71st hole all but sealed his second consecutive British Open title and will undoubtedly be seen on highlight reels for many years to come.
Padraig Harrington defending his British Open title was indeed an unexpected surprise, but he was not done there.
Less than a month later he became the first player in 26 years, other than Woods, to win back-to-back majors when he shocked us all a second time by winning the PGA Championship at Oakland Hills.
Facing a familiar foe in Sergio Garcia, Harrington demonstrated exactly why he is a major champion and why Garcia is not quiet there yet.
With a perfectly steady hand, Harrington made three putts between 6-12 feet on the 16th, 17th and 18th holes to edge out Garcia and capture his second consecutive major.
Similar to the British Open, Harrington made ever big shot he needed to at the most crucial moments. The most important of which came in the form of a 12 foot downhill putt he sunk on the 72nd hole to win yet another major championship.
Harrington first displayed his ability thrive under the most pressure-packed situations when he won the 2007 British Open.
Although he is one of the best golfers in the world, most would have thought Harrington’s performance at Carnoustie would have been difficult to repeat.
Defying the odds, Harrington did it again at the 2008 British Open and a third time at the PGA Championship.
Three majors in two years is quiet an impressive feat and all but secures Harrington’s place as the greatest Irish golfer of all time.
Harrington has also shown the golfing world that his win at Carnoustie in 2007 was no fluke.
Harrington’s display of ball-striking at the 2008 British Open and his ability to make one big putt after another at the PGA Championship was something not seen by any golfer aside from Tiger Woods in a very, very long time.
With Tiger Woods still sidelined by a knee injury and unsure of his time-line for a return to competitive golf, Harrington has to be the clear favorite at the 2009 Masters.
If Harrington were to somehow win a third consecutive major in April at Augusta, he would be one win away from a form of the grand slam.
Could we be looking at a ‘Paddy Slam’?
I would severely doubt it. However I, along with many others, doubted Harrington’s ability to defend his British Open title, and would have never in a million years thought that Harrington would win again at the PGA Championship just a few weeks later.
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