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McIlroy and Spaun set up Players Championship playoff
Doug Ferguson • March 17th, 2025 1:00 pm
Photo: AP
Rory McIlroy and JJ Spaun will battle it out in a three-hole aggregate playoff after finishing tied after four rounds at The Players Championship in Florida.
McIlroy built a three-shot lead on the back nine during Monday's (NZT) weather-marred final round but Spaun didn't blink.
They wound up tied after a four-hour rain delay and will return on Tuesday (2am NZT) for a playoff to decide who wins the richest tournament in golf.
World No.2 McIlroy needed two putts from 75 feet on the par-4 18th to complete a four-under-par 68.
All he could do was wait in the scoring area on Spaun, who had caught up with a marvellous chip on the par-5 16th and stood over a 30-foot putt for the win.
It stopped centimetres short, giving Spaun a 72 to match McIlroy at 12-under 276.
They did well to finish in regulation before sunset. The Players has a three-hole aggregate playoff on the most dynamic holes on the TPC Sawgrass - the par-5 16th, the island green on the par-3 17th and the daunting par-4 closing hole.
It will be the first Monday finish since Cameron Smith won in 2022 and the first playoff at The Players since Rickie Fowler won 10 years ago.
Tom Hoge had to wait out the four-hole delay with a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th. He returned and missed, posting a 66 and wound up two shots behind. Lucas Glover rallied from a rough front nine for a 71 and joined Hoge and Akshay Bhatia (70).
Bud Cauley, whose thought his career was over from crushing injuries in a 2018 car crash in Ohio, fell back early and steadied himself for a 74. He tied for sixth, giving him more than enough points to fulfill his medical exemption for the rest of the year.
Australia's halfway co-leader Min Woo Lee rounded out a disappointing weekend with a one-over 73 to finish in a nine-way tie for 20th with world No.1 and defending champion Scottie Scheffler.
Lee slumped from 11 under to four under over the final two rounds, collecting only three birdies in his last 36 holes compared to 13 on Thursday and Friday.
Bidding for a hat-trick of Players titles, Scheffler also closed with a 73.
- AP
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