VIRGINIA WATER, England (PA) -- The end of a season is a time to sit back and reflect. Who did well, who did badly, who went nowhere.
Except, that is, if you are a member of the European Tour. If so then it is a time to pack another suitcase and get on your travels again. Without delay.
Four days after Justin Rose grabbed the 2007 Order of Merit title at the Volvo Masters in Spain at the end of October, the race to succeed him began in Shanghai at the HSBC Champions tournament, which kicked off the 2008 European Tour campaign without so much as a breath between seasons.
With Rose admitting himself that it is majors rather than money list titles by which he will ultimately be judged, the pride of place on the circuit has to go to Padraig Harrington and Angel Cabrera.
Harrington, for so long known best for how many runners-up finishes he had in tournaments, was happy enough to have become the first Irish winner of the Irish Open since 1982 when, nine weeks later, he eclipsed that with his triumph in the British Open at Carnoustie.
Such was the Dubliner's doubts about his ability when he turned professional that he said: "I thought if I did well maybe I'd make a comfortable living on the tour."
Yet here he was, Europe's first major champion since Paul Lawrie in 1999, Ireland's first since Fred Daly in 1947 and the first ever from the Republic.
Ecstasy was coupled with relief, of course. One ahead playing the last, Harrington twice went in the Barry Burn and double bogeyed it, only for Sergio Garcia to give him another chance by bogeying the hole himself.
The Spaniard, like Rose still only 27, has become a worry. Near-misses come easily to him, but he has not won this year and he did not win last year, either. Hopefully, the 2008 Ryder Cup race and then the match itself will reinvigorate him -- something needs to.
The Spanish-speaking world does have its major champion, though. Cabrera held off Woods and Jim Furyk to capture the U.S. Open, a fantastic performance that ended Argentina's 40-year wait for somebody to follow in the footsteps of Roberto de Vicenzo.
For Rose to rise to seventh in the world and become Europe's top-ranked player is a phenomenal feat given that he began the year 51st and did not even have a guaranteed place in any of the majors.
A good start to 2007 got him in them, though, and he went on to finish in the top 12 of all four. But the fact that he now leads the pack is a reminder that, apart from it not being the season Garcia wanted, Luke Donald did not deliver as he hoped, either.
Donald was ninth in the world on Jan. 1. He is now 17th and he has not won all year either. In fact, he has not won since March last year. But if you think that's bad, what about David Howell and Darren Clarke, two of his Ryder Cup teammates 15 months ago?
Howell finished third on last year's Order of Merit and was only two shots away from winning it. This time he was 142nd and his world ranking has gone from 14th to 165th.
Injuries played their part in that, but his confidence is in dire need of being put back together now as well.
Clarke rose magnificently to the demands of a Ryder Cup played a mere six weeks after his wife Heather lost her cancer battle. He has found it harder in regular tournament golf; on the Order of Merit he ended up 138th and his current world ranking is an incredible 225th.
Both are eager to start climbing the ladder to success again. But it will not be easy given how high the standard is now and how many talented newcomers are arriving on the scene.
At 27 Rose may have been the youngest Order of Merit champion since Ronan Rafferty in 1989, but nobody will be expecting it to be so long until someone even younger wears the crown.
Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy, only 18, has taken to professional golf like a duck to water. Leading amateur in the British Open in July -- he was in third place after an opening 68 -- he posted third- and fourth-place finishes on his second and third pro starts, so did not even have to go to the qualifying school.
Neither does young Spaniard Pablo Martin, a college star at Oklahoma State. Just before his 21st birthday in April, he won the Portuguese Open to become the first amateur ever to capture a Tour title and was rewarded with a two-year exemption.
German Martin Kaymer, not 23 until December, has been named the circuit's Rookie of the Year after earning more than $1 million and coming in 41st on the money list. And it should not be overlooked that 19-year-old Oliver Fisher kept his card with something to spare after finishing fifth at last year's Q-School.
English golf was something of a laughing stock only a few years ago when Lee Westwood was the only player in the world's top 100. Not anymore.
Westwood, Donald, Paul Casey and Howell formed a third of the last Ryder Cup team -- not as impressive, actually, as Ireland providing a third through Harrington, Clarke and Paul McGinley -- and since the race for places on the 2008 team began Rose, Westwood, Nick Dougherty and Steve Webster have already won and Ian Poulter, Phillip Archer and Simon Dyson are high up the table, too.
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