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By John Maginnes
PGATOUR.com Correspondent

NORTON, Mass. -- The race for the PGA TOUR superlatives isn't over quite yet. Not by a long shot.

Tiger Woods has five wins so far in 2007. (WireImage)

PLAYER OF THE YEAR?

Tiger Woods in 2007

Starts 13 Wins 5 Top-10s 9 Top-25s 12 Scoring Avg. 68.04 Money Earned $7,824,385

NOTE: Stats are before this weekend • More stats, click here

In years past, the Player of the Year race had generally been determined by Labor Day. And, I'll admit, more than likely this year it is over as well. With five victories, Tiger Woods has three more than a quartet of players. Of those, only Zach Johnson has a major championship.

Zach would probably have to win the FedExCup to be considered. To do that it may take a clean sweep of the Peach state. He has already won the two events played in Georgia this year, including the Masters. With THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola on the not-too-distant horizon in Atlanta, he may have a shot.

Even then, it will be up to the players to vote for the Player of the Year. In the Zach Johnson scenario outlined above, it would be up to the players to determine if three victories -- and the FedExCup -- is better than five. Either way, Tiger has the lowest stroke average on TOUR this year (68.04) by nearly a full shot over Ernie Els, who is in second.

For most people, Tiger locked up the Player of the Year award at Southern Hills. It is not like he is going away during the Playoffs.

The Rookie of the Year award is close to being sewn up, as well. With his victory at the Wyndham Championship, Brandt Snedeker capped a dream rookie season. That was his sixth top-10 finish of the year.

But with Anthony Kim, Jeff Quinney and a host of others also having great first campaigns, there is still room for challenge. And there are likely to be at least three other newbies who qualify for the BMW Championship next week with the chance of making it to Atlanta.

The final award the players vote on is the Comeback Player of the Year. Last year Steve Stricker, who had all but vanished from the TOUR, reinvented his game and was recognized by his peers for the achievement. The interesting thing about his selection was the fact that one of the other prime candidates, Corey Pavin, had earned his first victory on the TOUR in more than a decade.

No player has come from the depths of his profession this year the way that Steve did in 2006. Certainly Paul Goydos' victory at the Sony Open in Hawaii puts him in the running. After battling injuries off the course and a game where technology tried to make him obsolete, Paul smiled his way into the winners circle for the second time in his career. Paul waited more than a decade between victories, too.

Paul isn't the only player who has bounced back this year, though. How about Tommy Armour III, who was playing out of the Past Champions category with limited availability but managed to make his way into the first two playoff events? And then there is Jose Coceres, who has lost in two playoffs this year after finishing 147th on the money list in 2006. Coming into the Deutsche Bank Championship, Jose was ranked 69th in FedExCup points. After he missed the cut, though, it is questionable whether or not he will advance to the BMW Championship next week.

Finally, the one man who has a chance to make a huge move this week is Rich Beem. Beemer played his way into the Deutsche Bank Championship last week with his best finish of the year at The Barclays. If Beemer can do the unthinkable and advance to the BMW Championship -- he needs to finish no worse than second -- he will have thrown his hat in the ring for Comeback Player of the Year.

At the end of the year, the players vote for these three superlatives. There is perhaps no higher honor in the game than being recognized by your peers for your achievements. In years past, labor done by Labor Day was enough for the players to make definitive decisions. But in this new era, awards are still up for grabs.