Harrington Named PGA Tour Player of the Year

There had been a little bit of debate in the golf media about whether Padraig Harrington or Tiger Woods deserved to be Player of the Year on the PGA Tour in 2008. Granted, Woods played only a partial season, but before his injury he won four times (more than anyone else), and held the money list lead right up until the last month of the season. Then there was that epic win in the U.S. Open.

Harrington, on the other hand, won two majors, the British Open and PGA Championship. Those were his only two victories on the PGA Tour, however.

Does a full season of competition and two majors win out over one major and a half-season, albeit a half-season that included three other wins and typical Tiger dominance?

Yes. Harrington had previously won the PGA of America's points-based Player of the Year award, plus the European Tour's Golfer of the Year award. Today, it became offical: He is the PGA Tour Player of the Year for 2008. Harrington won this award in a vote by his peers.

The PGA Tour doesn't release voting totals, but I doubt the vote was close. Its possible that Woods didn't even finish second, although we know he at least finished in the Top 5 (the Tour only revealed that Harrington was "selected ... over Kenny Perry, Vijay Singh, Camilo Villegas and Tiger Woods.")

This announcement wraps up the awards season. Below are the big winners for 2008. Click the name of a category to view all previous winners in that category.

PGA Tour

• Player of the Year: Padraig Harrington
• Money Leader: Vijay Singh
• Scoring Leader: Sergio Garcia
• Rookie of the Year: Andres Romero

LPGA Tour

• Player of the Year: Lorena Ochoa
• Money Leader: Lorena Ochoa
• Scoring Leader: Lorena Ochoa
• Rookie of the Year: Yani Tseng

Champions Tour

• Player of the Year: Bernhard Langer
• Money Leader: Bernhard Langer
• Scoring Leader: Bernhard Langer

European Tour

• Player of the Year: Padraig Harrington
• Money Leader: Robert Karlsson