PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — It took until Monday morning, but Rory McIlroy has claimed his second Players Championship via a playoff.
McIlroy and J.J. Spaun, tied at 12-under-par after 72 holes, were brought back to TPC Sawgrass on Monday morning for a three-hole aggregate playoff. With a chill in the air and a blustery wind gusting at more than 30 mph, McIlroy successfully navigated Sawgrass’ brutal closing stretch at 1-over-par, while disaster on No. 17 ruined Spaun’s chances of claiming by far the biggest title of his career.
McIlroy, with a three-shot lead, bogeyed the 18th hole, calmly lifting his ball out of the cup and tucking it into his pocket, waving his putter to the crowd. It was the first playoff in 10 years at The Players.
“I’m just glad we didn’t have to play 18 in that (wind). Three was enough,” McIlroy told NBC. “I feel bad for J.J. He hit a really good shot on 17 and it just went straight through the wind.”
The Northern Irishman said it was his third win on St. Patrick’s Day in his career.
McIlroy took the lead on the 16th hole, beginning with a towering 336-yard drive into the center of the fairway. That gave him 177 yards to the green, which he found in two and then two-putted for the birdie. Spaun, meanwhile, was caught in the right rough and had to take a hero line along the water’s edge just to get close. But the first hit out of a greenside bunker all week was chunky, and he missed a 22-footer for birdie.
Spaun was down but not out as he stood over his ball on the famous par-3 17th, but what happened next effectively ended the playoff. Spaun’s shot in the swirling wind had a beautiful flight but he had way too much on it, watching helplessly as the ball flew over the green entirely and into the water.
“I was committed to the club, committed to the shot shape I was trying to hit. We were hitting numbers on the range with TrackMan, literally the same wind direction and it was flying 128 yards so it was perfect club. I hit it just too good I guess, right through the wind. … I did what I needed to do and it just didn’t work out in my favor,” Spaun told NBC.
He played his third shot out of the drop zone, tried a chip shot from the collar to the far right pin, failed to get it very close and then two-putted for triple bogey. Spaun had previously not put a ball into the water all week on No. 17.
Both players went wide right on 18, taking water running down the fairway’s left side completely out of the picture. McIlroy played it safe from there, not needing any risk. Spaun did not finish the hole, letting McIlroy have the moment of draining the winning putt.
(Top photo of J.J. Spaun, left, and Rory McIlroy: Richard Heathcote / Getty Images)
