Roundtable: Which age group had the better '08?

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(Clockwise from top-left) Vijay Singh, Kenny Perry, Anthony Kim and Camilo Villegas have all enjoyed wonderful 2008 seasons.

Editor's note: With the regular season in the books and the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup a week away from history, PGATOUR.COM thought it was time to look back on the key storylines of the year. Was it the young guns, the fashionistas with flair and finesse? Or did the not-quite-ready-for-AARP set provide some of the most compelling moments of the year. Our panel of experts debate below.

MORE: PGA TOUR winners by age group, 1960-2008 | Thirtysomethings lead in overall TOUR wins

T.J. Auclair: The question is: who had a better year -- the 20somethings, or the 40somethings? I don't know about you guys, but I've got to give the nod to the 20somethings. Not because I'm 28 years old and biased, but when 40somethings like Vijay Singh and Kenny Perry win, I expect it. Both have years and years of experience and that's the key word there. It's an asset the 20somethings haven't all grown into yet.

Just like every rule, there are exceptions. The Sergio Garcias and Adam Scotts of the world come to mind. But look at the other 20somethings who have done damage this year, most notably Anthony Kim, Andres Romero and on Sunday, Camilo Villegas. All three players have notched their first career (and for Kim, second) wins in 2008. Same goes for Johnson Wagner, Chez Reavie and Parker McLachlin, though it's fair to say that trio isn't quite as heralded as Kim, Romero and Villegas.

J.B. Holmes, Sean O'Hair and D.J. Trahan are three more 20somethings with TOUR wins in 2008 -- for each it was the second win of their respective careers.

Young players these days aren't as intimidated as in the past. On top of that, they're built like world-class athletes. They eat right, work out and spend hours on end honing their skills on the range. They've played big-time amateur golf against a lot of the same guys they're now playing alongside on the PGA TOUR.

For all of those reasons, hands down, the 20somethings have had a better year than the 40somethings. Of course, something tells me that the 45-year-old Fijian would disagree with me as he deposits his $10 million bonus for winning the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.

Dave Shedloski: Well, this 40-something writer has a thing or two he'd like to tell his 20-something colleague ... if I can only remember what it was I was going to write!

Truth is, my young friend is correct. Kenny Perry was a hit in the summer and Vijay Singh owned August and everything after (to borrow a line from the Counting Crows) right up to essentially taking the FedExCup title before we've even hit a shot in THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola. But the sheer number of different winners from the roaring 20s can't be ignored. They also might be bringing a little more personality and freshness to the scene, too, never a bad thing, especially with You Know Who still on the sidelines.

Melanie Hauser: Kenny Perry and Vijay Singh have certainly had their moments -- well, months -- but I have to give this imaginary battle to the kids.

Anthony Kim is a major-in-waiting, J.B. Holmes can knock it out of the park. And have you looked at the U.S. Ryder Cup team? As Shed said, the sheer number of 20-something winners is impressive and with those fresh faces come fresh stories and some intriguing personalities -- huge while Tiger rehabs. Johnson Wagner, Sean O'Hair, fashion guru Camilo Villegas... they keep on coming.

And we can't overlook those aren't-they-30-yets? Sergio had that impressive win at THE PLAYERS Championship and he does have our attention every time he steps to the tee at a major. (Stay tuned for the Ryder Cup). Same for Adam Scott, who won in Dallas. They've been with us so long we just forget they're still under 30.

Helen Ross: You're all right. It's been great to see the 20somethings come into their own this year. Players like Anthony Kim and Camilo Villegas have personality, as well as prodigious talent and the ability to draw an entirely different segment of fans into the game (and we're not just talking the young women in their galleries, either). The Sean O'Hairs and Trevor Immelmans of the world are only going to get better, too. And who could forget Sergio Garcia's win at THE PLAYERS Championship, as well as the way he contended at the PGA and The Barclays.

But you can't discount what Kenny Perry and Vijay Singh did this year. Yes, T.J., they are proven winners but both turned what could have been disappointing years into memorable campaigns in just over a month.

Perry only had one top-10 in his first 12 tournaments and was barely on the Ryder Cup radar screen when he came to Atlanta for the final AT&T Classic. The 48-year-old lost in a disappointing playoff there, but it seemed to light a fire under him and he won three times in the space of five tournaments. He'll be playing before the home crowd at Valhalla, as a result -- which was his only goal for the season.

On the other hand, Singh had contended this year, but the smooth-swinging 45-year-old hadn't won as he struggled to resolve a love-hate relationship with his putter. He finally convinced himself that he and the belly putter were sympatico and embarked on a six-week plan that has resulted in three wins -- including the first two events in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup that have all but clinched the $10 million bonus.

Where are the props for setting a goal and accomplishing it?

Mike McAllister: Guess it's up to me to defend the veterans (and no cracks about my age!). There's no denying the flat-bellies (20s) are beating the pot-bellies (40s) in some key categories -- namely, wins (13 to 8) and majors (1-0). But let's consider the abstract categories.

The two big feel-good stories this season both belonged to 40something guys -- Paul Goydos at THE PLAYERS and Rocco Mediate at the U.S. Open. And if you go a step -- or in this case, a decade -- further, you can add 53-year-old Greg Norman's run at the Open Championship.

Then the two best streaks of the season have both been fashinoned by 40somethings -- Perry's three-wins-in-five-starts stretch to seal his Ryder Cup spot, and Singh's three-wins-in-five-starts stretch that jumpstarted his season, one that will end as the FedExCup champion. Until this year, no player 45 years old or older had ever won three tournaments in one season... and now it's been done by two players in the same year. Meanwhile, the 20somethings have how many players with three wins this year? Oh, that's right... zero.

But what I like best about the 40somethings is their long-range future. You can talk all you want about the potential of young guns Anthony Kim and Camilo Villegas; I'll take solace in the fact that Phil Mickelson joins the old guys in two years, and Padraig Harrington will get there a year after that. Plus,when Kim is 30 years old, Tiger Woods will be 40.

Anyone want to bet against the old guys in 2016?