Who Is the 2008 PGA Tour Player of the Year?

There is an interesting dynamic emerging in the golf world that is not getting much play in the media. The PGA Tour season is over, yet there is no definitive Player of the Year candidate. So you may be asking yourself, who will it be?

Tiger Woods started off the year with a bang. Yet, Tiger's roar was silenced after the US Open due to season-ending knee surgery.

Padraig Harrington made a splash into the waters of golf stardom by repeating at the British Open and following up that victory with a subsequent major triumph at the PGA Championship.

Vijay Singh, on the other hand, started off slow but caught on fire late in the season, hailing victorious at the Bridgestone Invitational and going on to win the FedEx Cup in relatively easy fashion.

So I've narrowed down the field to three finalists. Here is the case for each of them.

First off, Tiger Woods.  Winning the Buick Invitational and the World Match Play in convincing fashion, it seemed like a formality. 

After Tiger sunk a 20-foot slider on the 72nd hole at Bay Hill to win, it then seemed that the unthinkable was possible.  In Tiger-like fashion, he followed up that performance with perhaps the greatest sports performance so far this decade at the US Open. A putt for the ages on the 18th hole on Sunday propelled him into a playoff with Rocco Mediate, which he ultimately won. 

Unfortunately for Tiger, his season would end shortly there after due to knee surgery.

Then there was Padraig Harrington.  Clutch putting was the key to both of his victories at the British Open and the PGA Championship. Two major championships in a single season usually solidifies Player of the Year honors. Mark O' Meara in 1998 comes to mind. 

The problem with Harrington was the fact that he failed to capitalize on his major triumphs. He only managed four other top-10 finishes in the 13 other events he played for the year. Not to mention, he was hardly a factor in any of the playoff tournaments, leaving him 50th in the points tally.

Vijay Singh got off to a rough start this year by his standards, posting only two runner-up finishes at Pebble Beach and Doral.  Finally, he reached the winner's circle at the WGC-Bridgestone and continued that momentum by winning the Barclays and the Deutsche Bank Championship.

Those last two victories, coming in the first two playoff events, allowed Singh to run away with the FedEx Cup, seemingly clinching the cup before the Tour Championship began.  Mr. Singh also managed to edge out Tiger for the money title. Singh played in 23 events, compared to Tiger's six appearances. 

With that, I have to give the nod to Tiger. A courageous win at the US Open, combined with three other victories, not to mention a runner up at The Masters, left no doubt in anyone's mind that he is the most dominant athlete on the planet. It is for that reason that my Player of the Year for 2008 is Tiger Woods.