The 2025 PLAYERS Championship required a fifth day for a champion to be crowned. Rory McIlroy defeated JJ Spaun in a three-hole aggregate playoff to capture his second career PLAYERS Championship title.
Both players played holes 16, 17, and 18, but the tournament, for all intents and purposes, came to an end on the island green of 17.
McIlroy had already birdied 16 and taken a one-shot advantage. That put some pressure on Spaun to answer.
Instead, his tee shot air mailed the green straight into the lake.
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He then moved to the drop circle, and even that went only marginally better. He found the green but had more than 50 feet to the hole.
Spaun ultimately carded a triple-bogey 6, dashing his hopes.
After the loss, he addressed the water ball that essentially cost him the tournament.
“Yeah, I was never thinking anything other than 8-iron,” Spaun said. “We were warming up on the TrackMan this morning in a similar direction and getting kind of dialed in with what kind of shot I’d have to hit to fight the wind and carry the number that we were needing.
“Pulled an 8-iron, and even after Rory hit 9, he’s easily a
club longer than me.
“I don’t know if I flighted it too well, but it just went through the wind… I didn’t know what to tell it, like sit, go. If anything I was leaning more towards go.
“But it was a great shot. It was probably six, seven feet left
of the pin, just perfect if it was the right distance. I couldn’t
believe it was long.”
The look on Spaun’s face as the ball sailed the green said it all. He had a look of bewilderment, cementing his reactions afterward.
Meanwhile, McIlroy was seen proudly stalking past on his way to get to the island green.
The Northern Irishman did not play his best on Monday. But he played well enough given such a large advantage.
Despite the loss, Spaun has had the best start to a PGA Tour season of his career. He has three top-10s, finishing all three either second or third. He has another top-25 and no finish worse than T33 (AT&T Pebble Beach).
That consistency has vaulted him to 25th in the FedEx Cup standings. So, we should all expect to see a lot more of JJ Spaun as the season progresses.
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