ESPN Golf

For the first time in quite a while, the PGA Tour Player of the Year award isn't a shoo-in. The 2008 edition shouldn't necessarily be another coronation award for the year that Tiger Woods had. Back-to-back majors champion Padraig Harrington saw to that with a July victory at the British Open and an August triumph in the PGA Championship.

So who will take home the PGA's top awards -- Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Comeback Player of the Year -- in 2008? Our experts weigh in.

Player of the Year
Padraig Harrington: This is one of the most difficult decisions in the Tiger Woods era, because how do you deny a guy who won four times, including the U.S. Open on one leg, and finished second on the money list despite only six starts? Well, because Harrington won two majors. Sure, they were played without Tiger, but Harrington joined Mark O'Meara 10 years apart in securing two majors in the same year, the only players other than Tiger to do so since 1997. Given the emphasis put on major championships, Harrington gets the nod here. He also tied for fifth at the Masters and finished the year eighth on the PGA Tour money list.

-- Bob Harig, ESPN.com Golf writer

Padraig Harrington: Make no mistake. This is a two-man race between Padraig Harrington and Tiger Woods -- and a precedent has been set for which one should win this award.

Exactly 10 years ago, David Duval won four PGA Tour titles, topped the money list and lost the Player of the Year award to ... Mark O'Meara, who, much like Harrington, won a pair of major championships. In fact, O'Meara's 1998 season and that of Harrington in 2008 aren't all that dissimilar. The former Masters and British Open champ tallied five other top-10s a decade ago, but no other wins. Paddy had four other top-10s, but no other victories.

Of course, this isn't an accolade based on points, as it is in the LPGA, but rather one voted upon by the PGA Tour membership itself. No doubt some peers will vote for Tiger Woods based almost solely on his superhuman performance at Torrey Pines. Others will punch Padraig's ballot simply for the reason that it's time for some new blood. (Woods has won the Jack Nicklaus Award in 10 of the past 12 seasons.)

The one thing we have to remember is that the award is based on what a player accomplished -- not what he would have accomplished had he not been injured. Woods' four-wins-in-six-events season was remarkable, but it was hardly a full campaign. Even so, this award would be his if another player hadn't won two major championships. That's exactly what Harrington did, though, and that should be enough to clinch this award.

-- Jason Sobel, ESPN.com golf blogger

Tiger Woods: With all due respect to Padraig Harrington, how can it be anyone but Tiger Woods?

Four wins in six starts. Three on a bum knee and one on a bum knee AND a broken leg. He finished second on the tour money list despite playing 17 fewer events than earnings champion Vijay Singh.

Woods' year will be recorded in history alongside Ben Hogan's 1953, when the Hawk won five times in six starts while recovering from a shattered leg of his own.

Sure, Harrington had a great year, but in the three events that both Harrington and Woods played, Tiger came out on top. Woods was second to Harrington's fifth at the Masters, first to Harrington's T-17 at the Match Play and first to Harrington's T-36 at the U.S. Open. Give Harrington a pat on the back for winning two majors while Tiger was away, but give Woods the Player of the Year award.

-- John Antonini, Golf World senior editor

Tiger Woods: With apologies to Padraig Harrington, what Woods accomplished in 2008 was not only deserving of Player of the Year but also one of the astonishing accomplishments of any year. There should be a movie made about it. I'd rank it right there with Ben Hogan's 1953 season when he played in six tournaments and won five, including the only three majors he played.

Yes, Harrington won the British Open and the PGA Championship. But Tiger won four times, including the U.S. Open, finished second at the Masters and T-5 in the WGC-CA Championship. So in six starts he had four firsts, a second and a T-5. And let's not forget that Woods not only won the U.S. Open while playing on one leg, but he also had to play an extra day to get the job done.

When people talk about the 2008 PGA Tour season 20 years from now they are not going to remember it as the year Padraig Harrington won two majors. They are going to remember it as the year in which Tiger Woods limped and grimaced his way to victory at Torrey Pines. In fact, my enduring memory of 2008 will be the way Woods reacted when he made the winning birdie putt on the 72nd hole at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, throwing his hat to the ground and shouting the ball into the hole. What we saw there is part of what makes Woods special: Winning never gets old for him.

-- Ron Sirak, Golf World Executive Editor

Rookie of the Year
Kevin Streelman: A year ago at this time, Streelman was one of just nine players to make it through all three stages of Q-School. A month later he was paired in the last group during Round 3 of the Buick Invitational with Tiger Woods. Although Streelman faded on the weekend, he didn't fade during the year. He didn't win a tournament, but he had four top-10 finishes, finished 35th in the FedEx Cup standings and earned more than $1.3 million after having made just one cut in a PGA Tour event before this year and just two on the Nationwide Tour. From the Hooters and Gateway tours to rookie of the year in a single season? Not bad.

-- Bob Harig, ESPN.com Golf writer

Kevin Streelman: Four rookies won PGA Tour events during the 2008 season -- but none of 'em should win this award. Nothing against Andres Romero, Dustin Johnson, Chez Reavie and Marc Turnesa, but Kevin Streelman made the biggest impact of any first-year player.

From playing well enough at the Buick Invitational to receive a Saturday tee time with eventual champ Tiger Woods, to holding a share of the first-round lead at the U.S. Open, to finishing one shot out of a three-man playoff at The Barclays, Streelman's name was in the headlines throughout the season. One of the greatest end-of-season stats of 2008: The player who led the PGA Tour with most rounds in the 60s wasn't a grinder like Vijay Singh or Jim Furyk, but Streelman, who posted 54 such scores, including 14 of his last 15 rounds of the year.

And don't forget the value of a strong feel-good story, either. Streelman is hardly a phenom who always knew he'd find success. The 30-year-old Duke alum was playing mini-tours and still caddying on the side when he successfully negotiated his way through all three stages of Q-school last year to earn his card for '08. Perhaps that's why -- good score or bad -- Streelman may have also led the tour in fun during the season, too; it was rare to see the guy without a smile on his face.

Romero, Johnson, Reavie and Turnesa proved that on any given week a rookie can step up and earn a trophy on tour. But it was Streelman who was the most consistent player throughout the season. He should win the award.

-- Jason Sobel, ESPN.com golf blogger

Dustin Johnson: A true rookie who graduated from Coastal Carolina University in 2007 and qualified for the PGA Tour via Qualifying School, Johnson won the Turning Stone Championship and finished 42nd on the 2008 money list.

The long-hitting Johnson (310 yards off the tee) had a solid year, winning six-figure checks in three of his first four starts before a spring slump saw him miss seven cuts in nine starts. He rebounded, however, to make six cuts in a row and qualify for the PGA Tour Playoffs despite having to withdraw from two events after cutting his right pinky on a boat trailer. The finger healed in time for him to win in upstate New York. His future looks very bright indeed.

-- John Antonini, Golf World senior editor

Andres Romero: Romero, who turned 27 in May, became a professional in Argentina 10 years ago, but he had played only five PGA Tour events -- missing the cut in three -- before the 2008 season. When he missed the cut in his first three starts of the year, it appeared as if Romero might have only a cup of coffee in the United States. But when he defeated Retief Goosen and Jonathan Byrd before losing to Henrik Stenson in the Accenture Match Play Championship, it kick-started his season.

A month later, Romero won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and then made the cut in 15 of his final 17 events of 2008, including all four major championships. He finished T-8 in the Masters, T-36 in the U.S. Open, T-32 in the British Open and T-7 in the PGA Championship. In fact, Romero has already established himself as a big-event player, finishing third in the 2007 British Open and T-6 in '06. Romero finished 2008 with more than $2 million in PGA Tour winnings and was 28th in FedEx Cup points.

-- Ron Sirak, Golf World Executive Editor

Comeback of the Year
Kenny Perry: He was not terrible in 2007, but nothing ever gave you the indication that Kenny Perry would have the kind of season he had this year. Trying to come back from knee surgery in 2006 and having posted just three top-10 finishes last year, Perry didn't figure to have a career year at age 48. But that's what he did. He made it his personal quest to make the U.S. Ryder Cup team, and darn it if he didn't have it clinched by July. Yes, he controversially skipped the British Open and played in just one major, but Perry won the Memorial, the Buick Open and the John Deere Classic to run his career victory total to 12.

-- Bob Harig, ESPN.com Golf writer

Dudley Hart: Anyone who has young children should give Dudley Hart a sympathy vote. After all, it's difficult enough to find time to hit the links with one or two little ones, let alone play professional golf at an elite level. Well, that's exactly what Hart did in 2008 -- all with six-year-old triplets at home.

No, it may not be enough for Hart to garner his own TLC reality show, but the backstory of the upstate New York native should help him receive this prize.

One year ago, Hart finished 176th on the money list, though it wasn't necessarily due to poor results. He was limited to just 12 events while wife Suzanne was diagnosed with a non-smoking-related tumor in her lungs and subsequently had two-thirds of one lung removed. Under the new Major Medical Exemption for family crisis, Hart was given 15 events to earn $485,931 this year, but hardly needed that many.

Hart won eight six-figure paychecks during the season, finishing a career-best 29th on the money list (tied with his 1999 rank) in his 18th PGA Tour season. That included eight top-10 results and his first-ever trip to the season-ending Tour Championship, which he secured on the strength of a solo second at the BMW Championship in the previous event. He finished strong, jumping from 66th in the FedEx Cup points race prior to the playoffs to 12th by the final Sunday at East Lake. All the while, Hart did things the old-fashioned way -- he earned it with his short game, ranking first in sand save percentage and 37th in putting average.

Those are great numbers for any player, but considering Hart posted them after caring for his ill wife last year and taking care of young triplets at home, they should be enough to win this award.

-- Jason Sobel, ESPN.com golf blogger

Kenny Perry: He was 47 years old and staring the Champions Tour in the face when he finished 79th on the 2007 PGA Tour money list. That was a follow-up to his 104th-place finish in 2006 after five straight years in the top 30.

Perry's drop-off had nothing to do with his golf, but more with a knee injury that sidelined him for part of the 2006 season. Fully recovered in 2008, Perry won three times (the Memorial, the Buick Open and the John Deere Classic) and took home $4.6 million, which more than doubled his previous career best. That he finished fifth on the money list without playing in a major championship (he didn't qualify for the Masters, didn't try to qualify for the U.S. Open, skipped the British Open and withdrew with an injury at the PGA) shouldn't go without saying. But passing on the majors allowed him to attain his goal of qualifying for the Ryder Cup, which was held in his home state of Kentucky.

-- John Antonini, Golf World senior editor

Davis Love III: There are not a lot of 44-year-old multimillionaires who would show the fight displayed by Love over the last two months of the 2008 season. He had surgery in September of 2007 after tearing tendons in his left ankle while playing golf. While he returned to the tour in February, he was clearly not at full strength. In his first 17 tournaments he missed the cut five times and finished as high as T-19 only once. Then, after nearly two months off, he showed what he is made of.

With a stated desire to make the 2010 Ryder Cup team -- and perhaps a Presidents Cup along the way -- Love played all six of the Fall Series events and, though he did miss two cuts, he finished T-3, T-6, T-11 and first in the other four. In winning the Children's Miracle Network Classic, Love shot a remarkable 64-64 on the weekend for PGA Tour victory No. 20.

Love has played in the Ryder Cup and the Presidents Cup six times each. Don't bet against his playing both at least one more time. And don't be surprised if he contends in a couple of majors in 2009. The way his season ended, it feels as if Love is going to carry his comeback into the new year.

-- Ron Sirak, Golf World Executive Editor