With both the Official World Ranking and the Rolex Golf Rankings publishing their de facto “final” standings this past week, here is a rundown of the world’s best professional golfers, and an assessment of their seasons and present career paths.

First the men:

1) Tiger Woods – The great thing about discussing Tiger is that one doesn’t have to say much; it’s all been covered, ad nauseum, by both the golf and mainstream media already. Suffice to say that while his numerical stranglehold on the #1 spot might be in jeopardy if his comeback is delayed and one of his pursuers starts hot, Tiger remains the best golfer on earth until proven otherwise. Might be a while.

2) Sergio Garcia – Still no Major titles, but it cannot be denied that even with the golfing gods, ancient curses and the whims of the cosmos all conspiring ruthlessly against him, Sergio took a huge step forward in 2008. Of course, he still needs to win more – actually, a lot more – if he’s going to challenge Tiger for #1, but the prodigious talent of his youth seems now to be carrying the day. Does he have one more gear for Major championship play?

3) Phil Mickelson – Though twice a winner in America, Mickelson’s 2008 cannot be seen as a rousing success. His best Major championship finish was a T5 at The Masters, he was twice out of the top 10 in the other three (T18 at the U.S. Open, T19 in Britain) and he relinquished the #2 World Ranking spot to Sergio Garcia. At 38, he should still be very much in his prime – but having admitted that he can’t realistically compare his career to Tiger’s, it’s about beating back challengers like Garcia and Padraig Harrington now.

4) Padraig Harrington – With back-to-back Major wins at the Open Championship and PGA, Harrington clearly enjoyed the biggest worldwide season in golf – though a modest late-season drop in form relegated him to 4th in the year-end ranking. Also very much in his prime at age 37, he looks most capable of pushing both Garcia and Mickelson for the #2 spot...and maybe more if Tiger’s comeback somehow proves unsuccessful.

5) Vijay Singh – What a strange year for the seemingly ageless Singh. Despite indifferent winter form and a terrible Major championship ledger (T14, T65, Cut, Cut), the 45-year-old Fijian rose from the ashes to win three of his final five starts and – future Trivial Pursuit question – capture the FedEx Cup. Some might retire upon carving such an immortal place for themselves in golfing history, but likely not Vijay. We wonder, however, just how much longer anyone over 45 can continue competing at the elite level...

6) Robert Karlsson – It was a breakout year for the 6’5” Swede – albeit about a decade later than many of us expected. Playing remarkably consistent golf, the 39-year-old Karlsson won “only” twice on the European Tour, but logged a boatload of top 5s, finished no worse than 8th in the year’s first three Majors, and led the PGA Championship after the opening 18 before falling to T20 – all of which highlighted a 35-spot jump in the World Ranking. A mercurial personality, so predicting his future is trickier than some – but he certainly looked like he found something in 2008.

7) Camilo Villegas - Another player who experienced a breakout year, climbing from 56th place in the final 2007 ranking. Showed modest form early but blistered the field late, winning twice (in addition to two further top-4s) in his last five official starts. It’s crowded at the top; can he climb significantly higher?

8) Ernie Els – Old friend Ernie bounced through an up-and-down season which included one victory – but also five MCs – in 16 American starts. Given that he ended ’07 ranked #4 in the world, 2008 can hardly be seen as a shining accomplishment, but at age 39, and blessed with top-shelf physical talent, the Big Easy very likely has a good deal of world-class golf left in him.

9) Henrik Stenson – It speaks volumes regarding the growing strength of the E Tour that the 32-year-old Stenson went winless there, yet still manages to retain a spot in the year-end top 10. Of course, ten top 10s (including a T3 at the Open Championship and a T4 at the PGA) enable one to rack up a good number of rankings points – particularly with so many stronger European fields. The big question now: can Stenson parlay his obvious talent into a proportional number of victories?

10) Lee Westwood – It’s been a long way back for the 35-year-old Westwood, whose halcyon early days seemed but a vague memory roundabout 2002, when a prolonged slump saw him end the year buried at 181st in the world. Like Stenson, Westwood also went winless in 2008, but his 13 top-10 finishes (including a 3rd at the U.S. Open) racked up countless ranking points. Now, can he kick it up just enough to regain the form that saw him to 12 E Tour titles from 1998-2000?

11) Geoff Ogilvy – After a slow start (three straight MCs in America), it was a solid (if unspectacular) campaign for the 2006 U.S. Open champion, with his one U.S. win coming at the strong-field WGC event at Doral. With so solid a game and a relatively unflappable demeanor, does a multi-win, breakout season lie ahead in 2009?

12) Anthony Kim – The 23-year-old Kim served notice in a big way in 2008, claiming victories at the Wachovia Championship and the AT&T National, and making waves during the U.S. Ryder Cup victory. An imposing young talent. If the notion of anyone actually “challenging” Tiger can be taken seriously, this would seem the most likely candidate to do it. Rising with a bullet.

13) Jim Furyk – With nine top-10 finishes in America, things couldn’t have been too bad for the 2003 U.S. Open champion, but... Furyk was also winless for the first time since 2004 and, save for a T5 at the Open Championship, finished no better than 29th in Major play. Bottom line, when you’ve ended the last two seasons ranked 2nd and 3rd respectively, sitting 13th now means ’08 cannot go down as a hallmark year...

14) Steve Stricker – Began the year ranked 5th and playing well, but a streak of five missed cuts in six springtime starts seemed to take some of the luster off. Save for a T7 at the Open Championship, logged only a single top 10 after March (a T10 at September’s Western Open/BMW Championship). At 41, likely not destined to see the top 5 again – but the way he can roll it, you never know.

15) Kenny Perry – The Steve Stricker of 2008, Perry began the season ranked 92nd but won three times in six late-spring weeks, played himself onto the Ryder Cup team and finished the year comfortably inside the top 20. Of course, he’s also 48 years old, so any future greatness likely will be relegated to the Champions Tour...

16) Stewart Cink – The 35-year-old Cink tore it up through the spring, logging one win, four top 4’s and seven top 10s before the end of June – but never bettered a T33 at the Deutsche Bank Championship thereafter. With five wins and career earnings in excess of $25 million, he is perhaps the quintessential American professional (translation: can he win more or simply bank massive checks?).

17) Adam Scott – Is he becoming a tease? Scott began the year ranked #7, shot a closing 61 to win January’s Qatar Masters, then won the PGA Tour’s Byron Nelson Championship in April. I (like many others) foresaw greatness, a breakout year, a major statement in the Majors... But Scott never even approached an American top 10 after mid-May, and finished T25, T26, T16, MC in the Majors. Undeniably a world-class talent capable of contending anytime, and at age 28, it’s surely not too late, but...when?

18) K.J. Choi – Another player who started like gangbusters, winning the Hawaiian Open and contending regularly into April. A summer slump cooled him considerably however, as did MCs at the U.S. Open and PGA. At 38, Choi should have plenty of good miles left – but can he be consistent enough to reach (and hold) a place in the top 10?

19) Justin Rose – Rose’s career parallels with fellow 28-year-old Adam Scott continue. He too began the year ranked much higher (#6) and struggled a bit in the Majors (T36, MC, T70, T9). Further Rose has logged only one worldwide win (the 2006 Australian Masters) since his breakout season of 2002. Like Scott, many believe Rose possesses another gear and is, at the very least, capable of winning regularly around the globe. But...when?

20) Trevor Immelman – An odd year indeed for the 29-year-old Immelman, who began 2008 ranked 19th, broke through for his first Major championship at the Masters in April....and then, save for a playoff loss in Memphis, largely disappeared thereafter. But his talent is undeniable, making a regular spot among the world top 10 a highly realistic goal.


And on the women’s side...

1) Lorena Ochoa – Had her second half mirrored her first, some of Mickey Wright’s single-season records might have been in jeopardy. But as it is, she’s still the world’s best by a wide margin – at least for now.

2) Yani Tseng – The 19-year-old Tseng came out of nowhere as an LPGA Tour rookie, logging an impressive eight finishes among the top 3, and winning a Major, the LPGA Championship. Notably, her form varied little throughout the season, suggesting that this ranking may prove itself something well beyond a fluke.

3) Annika Sorentstam – Hall-of-Famer Sorenstam began her farewell tour in top form, winning thrice by mid-May, but she leveled off noticeably thereafter. This position in the rankings will be short-lived as she is now officially retired. Maybe.

4) Paula Creamer – Four wins and a runner-up finish on the LPGA money list would be considered a banner season by most, but for Creamer, who still yearns for her first Major title, it may ring a shade less satisfying. Perhaps more importantly, at age 22, she has seemingly established for herself a permanent place among the world’s top five – not a bad platform from which to work.

5) Suzann Pettersen – Though twice a winner in Europe, 2008 was a disappointing season for the player who, one year ago, seemed the woman most likely to challenge Lorena Ochoa’s worldwide supremacy. At age 27, it is perhaps too early top know which version of Pettersen will be around for the long haul, particularly as the competition near the top only thickens.

6) Ji-Yai Shin – Though ending the year ranked 6th, Shin is widely viewed as the heir apparent to the Ochoa throne, and why not? The ultra-talented 20-year-old won three 2008 LPGA events (including the Women’s British Open) without even being a member of the Tour, and has proven herself not just successful but dominant at every level. Coming full-time to America in ’09, so look out.

7) Cristie Kerr – Have we seen her best? The 2007 U.S. Women’s Open champion won only once in 2007 (at August’s Safeway Classic) and made very little noise in the Majors. Then again, it’s not so much that her game has slipped as much as a whole cadre of young talent (particularly Tseng and Shin) have rocketed past her during their rapid climbs. At 31, she figures to have some good miles left...

8) Helen Alfredsson – Rising from the ashes, Alfredsson, who had won only once since 1998, claimed two LPGA titles in 2008, launching herself into the world top 10 in the process. At age 43, that position may prove short-lived – but it was a nice late-career rush for the popular veteran.

9) Angela Stanford – Once an LPGA winner in 2003, Stanford shed seven years of relative mediocrity (her previous best money ranking was 17th) to win twice, finish no worse than 6th in her final six starts, and end up 9th in official earnings. Given her amateur and collegiate background, such a performance may not be a fluke. But with stiff competition to retain a spot in the top 10, it will be interesting to see how well she holds up in ’09.

10) Karrie Webb – This Hall-of-Famer was winless in America, and only managed four top 10 finishes in 20 LPGA starts. At a very experienced 34, it seems likely that her days challenging for number one are over – but her game has rebounded from valleys before, so...

11) Seon Hwa Lee – Already a winner in her first two LPGA seasons, Lee added two more titles in 2008, as well as five additional top 10s. Began the year ranked 9th, so not a bad campaign overall.

12) Yuri Fudoh – The world’s highest-ranked player not making regular appearances in America, Fudoh (now age 32) moved up nine spots in 2008 behind four wins on her home JLPGA circuit. Too bad she doesn’t venture out more...

13) Jeong Jang - The 28-year-old ex-Women’s British Open continued her reputation for regularly contending but seldom winning, logging six top-3 LPGA finishes in 27 starts, but failing to claim a victory for the second consecutive season. Ranked 11th a year ago, her career seems locked into a steady (and lucrative) holding pattern.

14) Momoko Ueda – The 22-year-old Ueda never bettered 5th in 19 LPGA starts, but did manage two victories (in 13 starts) back in Japan. An up-and-comer who appears capable of winning in America.

15) Jee Young Lee - This 23-year-old Korean remains winless since coming to America full-time in 2007, but manages to rack up Rolex Ranking points with steady play, including a run of five consecutive top 10’s to close out the LPGA season.