So it’s barely October, but at least I had the decency to wait until the high drama of the FedEx Cup was complete (would Vijay sign an incorrect scorecard?) before selecting Players Of The Year for major tours around the world.  Of course, the truth is that I simply lacked the time to put this piece together on Thursday or Friday – because even if Vijay had stubbed his toe, withdrawn, and passed on $10 million, it wouldn’t have affected my selections one bit.
 
But to be fair, I never thought much of the Tour Championship even before it became the excitement-free anchor of the Finchem – er, FedEx Cup.
 
Anyway, with the understanding that several faraway tours still have featured events remaining to be played…
 
 
The PGA Tour

I recognize that in some quarters (mostly American) there might be a some debate on this, but for my money there’s only one realistic choice: Padraig Harrington.  True, Tiger Woods won four times in six starts, including an heroic performance at June’s U.S. Open.  But in the end, Harrington not only won two Major championships, he did so in epic fashion, pulling away over the closing holes at both Royal Birkdale and Oakland Hills.  True, hypothetically speaking, had Tiger played a dozen events and won, say seven of them, there might have been a worthwhile discussion to be had……but even then, I’d have still chosen Harrington’s two Majors.  Because in the end, Bobby Jones might have won 20 Majors had he not retired at age 28, Ben Hogan might have claimed 15 had he not collided with a bus, and Harry Vardon might have won a dozen Open Championships had he not been stricken with tuberculosis.  But those are all “might haves,” whereas Jack Nicklaus actually went out and won his 18.
 
As Padraig won his two.
 
End of story.
 
 
The European PGA Tour

Obviously this too would be Harrington, as Major championships are official events on the E Tour schedule just like they are in America.  But getting in the spirit of the thing (i.e.discounting them entirely), serious candidates for strictly European POY honors would essentially be limited to Lee Westwood, Robert Karlsson and Miguel Angel Jimenez, for several other two-time winners (Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell and Darren Clarke) were simply too inconsistent to merit ultimate consideration.  Westwood, though second to Harrington in the Order of Merit and seven times (!) a top-3 finisher, has thus far failed to win a 2008 E Tour event, which derails his candidacy in my book.  Jimenez, who sits 4th in the OoM, won twice (in Hong Kong early, and at the prestigious BMW PGA Championship in May) and added three more top-3 finishes beginning in Mid-July, making for a consistent all-around season.  Of course, nobody was more consistent than Karlsson, who was scarcely ever out of the top 10, either in Europe or worldwide, after March before finally winning the Mercedes-Benz Championship in September.  Yet in the end, while his six total top-3s nose ahead of Jimenez’s five, the Mechanic’s second win seems enough to clinch the deal.  True, this less-prestigious win didn’t even occur in 2008, for it came at last November’s Hong Kong Open which, by dint of the E Tour’s crafty scheduling, manages to annually count on the following year’s schedule.  But this quasi-’08 triumph remains significantly relevant because it came head-to-head against Karlsson, who suffered the cruel misfortune of double-bogeying the 72nd hole to lose by one.
 
By actually coming in 2007, it’s a narrow margin indeed – but enough to make Jimenez the Player Of The Year.
 
 
The Japan Tour

With fully 10 events left on the schedule (including the Japan Open and the perennially strong-field Dunlop Phoenix and Casio World Open), it’s way too early to say – but at this moment, Thailand’s Prayad Marksaeng is the circuit’s only two-time 2008 winner, and sits 4th in the Order of Merit despite only making 10 starts.
 
But there’s much golf still to be played.
 
 
The Asian Tour

Like Japan, with a dozen official events left (several quite prestigious), it’s simply too soon to select a winner.  New Zealand’s Mark Brown is the only player to win multiple Asian events, but both the SAIL Open and the Johnnie Walker Classic came way back in February.  At present, Jeev Milkha Singh (who’s burnished his CV in Europe and occasionally America in ’08) sits 2nd in the OoM, while India’s S.S.P. Chowrasia, a winner in his homeland back in February, sits 3rd.
 
 
The Sunshine Tour

With the Nedbank Million Dollar Challenge, the Alfred Dunhill Championship and the South African Open all scheduled for December, nothing’s settled yet (especially since the Tour’s top stars haven’t been playing at home since March).  Europe will be well into their 2009 schedule (albeit in calendar ’08, and including the latter two of these events) before this is settled.
 
 
The LPGA Tour

Strive as one might to create some discussion based on her quiet(er) second half, Lorena Ochoa remains the only realistic choice – and it’s really a no-brainer.  Yani Tseng and Inbee Park both matched Ochoa’s season Major championship total (one) but neither could claim so much as a single additional victory, leaving them miles shy of Ochoa’s seven.  Among the more traditional contenders, Annika Sorenstam looked ready to go out on a rocket by winning thrice by mid May, but has been heard from little since, while Paula Creamer has also claimed three titles, but noting since mid-July.  The only disappointing aspect of Ochoa’s season is that having won six times (including the Kraft Nabisco) in nine starts through May 18th, she seemed hot enough to make talk of a Grand Slam at least quasi-realistic, and a run on Mickey Wright’s single-season record of 13 wins downright plausible.  The Grand Slam will have to wait for another day, but with six official events left on the schedule, 13 wins is…extremely unlikely.
 
But Lorena Ochoa is, by any measure, the runaway choice for LPGA Player Of  The Year.
 
 
The Ladies European Tour

A resurgent Helen Alfredsson may lead the Order of Merit but for all of her fine play, Alfredsson has only one title (the LPGA co-sponsored Evian Masters) on her 2008 docket.  France’s Gwladys Nocera, on the other hand, sits 2nd in the OoM, but has racked up an impressive four victories – one more than Lotta Wahlin (6th in the OoM) and two more than Suzann Pettersen (5th), Amy Yang (4th), Rebecca Hudson (8th) and Martina Eberl (3rd).  With five events remaining, including the season-ending Dubai Ladies Masters, advantage Nocera.
 
 
The JLPGA Tour

Similarly in the driver’s seat  is six-time JLPGA leading money winner Yuri Fudoh, who thus far leads her home circuit with three 2008 victories.  Several players have amassed two, however, including LPGA Tour regular Momoko Ueda and former LPGA competitor Akiko Fukushima, with the latter also leading the Order of Merit.  But of all the tours which must be graded “incomplete” at this stage, none will likely be subject to more change than the JLPGA, as nine official events remain including two of the circuits “Majors,” this week’s Japan’s Women’s Open and late November’s Tour Championship.

Stay tuned.