Year in Review: Top 10 players of 2008

text size
Increase Text Size
Decrease Text Size
Tiger Woods
Kinnaird/Getty Images
Tiger Woods won four times in six events this year, including at the U.S. Open, before suffering a season-ending knee injury.
Email This Story Print This Story RSS
Nov. 12, 2008
By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM Site Producer

The 2008 PGA TOUR season provided plenty of action, drama and suspense. At the heart of every shot, round and tournament were the players who make up the TOUR. See who we thought were the 10 best players of the year.

1. Tiger Woods: He played in just six events and still had more titles than anyone else on TOUR with four. Woods also provided the year's most memorable moment/round with his dramatic 91-hole, sudden-death playoff victory over Rocco Mediate at the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. And he did it on essentially one leg with a left knee that would require season-ending surgery for a torn ACL. Six events or not he proved to be the best player on TOUR yet again.

2. Padraig Harrington: The best player on TOUR this season not named Tiger Woods, Harrington captured the British Open and the PGA Championship with some remarkable play. He also recorded four other top-five finishes, including a tie for fifth at the Masters.

3. Vijay Singh: The winner of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, Singh won two Playoff events, including The Barclays, where he defeated Sergio Garcia in extra holes in one of the most exciting finishes all season. Singh's '08 resume also included eight top-10s and more than $8 million in earnings, good enough to earn the top spot on the money list.

4. Sergio Garcia: Some might remember Garcia more for his heartbreaking near-misses, but 2008 proved to be arguably his best season yet with a playoff victory at THE PLAYERS Championship and runner-ups at the PGA Championship, The Barclays and THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola, the latter two in playoffs.

5. Anthony Kim: A 5-and-4 victory over Sergio Garcia at the Ryder Cup was the highlight of Kim's season, but he also became the first American under 25 to win twice in a season since Tiger Woods with victories at the Wachovia Championship and the AT&T National. AK also tied for third at the BMW Championship and THE TOUR Championship.

6. Camilo Villegas: Talk about a way to end your season. Villegas closed with a pair of wins at the BMW Championship and THE TOUR Championship after tying for fourth at the PGA Championship and sharing third at The Barclays. He added three other top-10s, including one at the U.S. Open, and finished with more than $4 million in earnings in just his third season on TOUR. He also was second in the FedExCup.

7. Phil Mickelson: It wasn't Mickelson's best year on TOUR, but he still had a season to remember with a pair of wins at the Northern Trust Open and the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. Lefty finished with eight top-10s and more than $5 million in earnings and was a member of the winning U.S. Ryder Cup team.

8. Kenny Perry: Just by making the Ryder Cup team it was a career year by Perry's own admission. Ryder Cup aside, it still was one of the 48-year-old's best seasons with three wins, including one at the Memorial Tournament presented by Morgan Stanley. He also had seven top-10s and 13 top-25s with more than $4.6 million in earnings.

9. Justin Leonard: The 36-year-old Texan quietly had one of the best seasons of any player on the PGA TOUR with one win (Stanford St. Jude Championship), a runner-up (Bob Hope Chrysler Classic) and eight top-10s. He missed just one cut and had nearly $4 million in earnings.

10. Jim Furyk: Despite failing to register a win for the first time since 2004, Mr. Consistency proved to still be one of the world's best players with nine top-10s and 13-top 25s. He finished in a tie for second at the World Golf Championships-CA Championship and sank the clinching putt for the U.S. team at the Ryder Cup.

Email This Story   Print This Story   RSS   Bookmark and Share
SHOP.PGATOUR.COM
PGATOUR shop

Shop your favorite brand name golf equipment and accessories at SHOP.PGATOUR.COM

FANTASY

Click Here
© 1995-2012 PGA TOUR, Inc. | Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved. PGA TOUR, Champions Tour, Nationwide Tour and the swinging golfer logo are registered trademarks.
Turner PGATOUR.com is part of Turner Sports Digital, part of the Turner Sports & Entertainment Digital Network