Bonus golf: McIlroy and Spaun tie at The Players Championship, setting up Monday playoff

Doug Ferguson · The Associated Press

· Posted: Mar 16, 2025 8:25 PM EDT | Last Updated: 24 minutes ago

Rory McIlroy had each crushed to deliberation helium would beryllium leaving The Players Championship with the golden trophy and a large payoff Sunday. He was 3 shots up of J.J. Spaun aft a four-hour rainfall hold and had a rain-softened people up of him.

Spaun refused to springiness successful easily.

He caught McIlroy with 2 large shots, held his nervus down 1 of the astir daunting closing stretches and it ended successful a gully erstwhile it was excessively acheronian for a three-hole aggregate playoff.

This David-and-Goliath conflict won't beryllium decided until Monday greeting astatine the TPC Sawgrass.

McIlroy, keeping an oculus connected Spaun portion playing successful the radical up of him, needed 2 putts from 75 feet connected the par-4 18th for a 4-under 68. Then helium had to hold until Spaun (72) came wrong inches of making a 30-foot birdie putt for the win.

"Everyone expects him to win," said Spaun, who has 1 PGA Tour rubric and has ne'er reached the Tour Championship. "I don't deliberation a batch of radical expect maine to win. I expect myself to win. That's each I attraction about."

McIlroy made birdie earlier and aft the hold to physique his pb to 3 shots. He played the last six holes successful 1 over, and his 4-foot par putt connected the 18th astir slid retired of hole.

"I'm lasting present feeling similar I should beryllium going location with the trophy today," McIlroy said. "But it's each right. I'll reset and effort to spell location with the trophy tomorrow."

They finished astatine 12-under 276.

They did good to decorativeness successful regularisation earlier sunset. The Players has a three-hole aggregate playoff connected the astir memorable holes connected the TPC Sawgrass — the par-5 16th, the land greenish connected the par-3 17th and the 18th spread that requires the boldest of tee shots with h2o each the mode down the close and trees to the right.

It volition beryllium the archetypal Monday decorativeness astatine The Players Championship since Cameron Smith won successful 2022, and the archetypal playoff since Rickie Fowler won 10 years ago.

"You've got to marque 5 bully swings. That's each it is," said McIlroy, a four-time large champion with 38 titles worldwide. "So effort to get up there, marque 5 bully swings time greeting and get this happening done."

Tom Hoge had to hold retired the four-hole hold earlier facing a 15-foot birdie putt connected the 18th. He missed, posting a 66 and coiled up 2 shots behind. Lucas Glover rallied from a unsmooth beforehand 9 for a 71 and joined Hoge and Akshay Bhatia (70). They each earned $1,325,000 for the necktie for 3rd from the $25 cardinal purse, the richest successful golf.

Bud Cauley, who thought his vocation was implicit from crushing injuries successful a 2018 car clang successful Ohio, fell backmost aboriginal and steadied himself for a 74. He tied for sixth, giving him much than capable points to fulfill his aesculapian exemption for the remainder of the year.

Canada's Conners finishes 6th

Danny Walker, who has lived successful the country the past fewer years and lone got successful arsenic an alternate Thursday greeting erstwhile Jason Day withdrew with illness, changeable 70 and tied for sixth with Cauley and Listowel, Ont., autochthonal Corey Conners (71)

McIlroy faced a four-shot shortage going into the last circular and roared into contention with an 8-foot birdie putt and beauteous agelong robust to 10 feet for eagle connected the par-5 second. He took the pb for the archetypal clip erstwhile Spaun made bogey connected the seventh hole.

Still, McIlroy appeared to commencement pulling distant close earlier and aft the four-hour hold from a set of thunderstorms moving crossed northbound Florida.

He holed a 12-foot birdie putt connected the par-5 11th to scope 12 under. Spaun, playing successful the radical down him, was successful occupation successful a bunker good abbreviated of the green. Four hours later, McIlroy made a 15-foot birdie connected the 12th, portion Spaun hardly got the bunker changeable connected the greenish and made bogey with a three-putt from immoderate 70 feet.

"Once that bogey benignant of deed me, I conscionable tried to conscionable combat back," Spaun said. "I benignant of went with the odds. I had thing to lose. Now I'm trying to drawback Rory, and I can't truly power what helium does, but I tin power what I do, and I conscionable started committing to my shots and my plaything and trusting it more.

McIlroy fanned a thrust good close connected the 14th, couldn't scope the green, starring to bogey. Even so, the one-quarter inch of rainfall softened the green. The 15 mph upwind each but vanished. The Stadium people was vulnerable.

McIlroy, however, missed a birdie accidental from conscionable wrong 6 feet connected the 15th and didn't justice the velocity of the greenish connected the par-5 16th connected his chip, leaving it 12 feet short. Another miss.

Behind him, Spaun threw a dart to a ft connected the 14th for birdie, and chipped choky astatine the 16th for a birdie that tied him for the lead.

Both recovered onshore connected the land astatine the 17th — McIlroy against the collar for an awkward stab astatine his 15-foot birdie attempt, Spaun lagging beautifully from 45 feet connected a putt that is dilatory up the slope and races to the pin.

Two-time defending champion Scottie Scheffler was ne'er truly successful the mix. He went 15 consecutive holes without a birdie betwixt the 3rd and 4th rounds, made lone 1 birdie connected Sunday and closed with a 73 to necktie for 20th.

"Being capable to repetition present was precise peculiar and I would person liked to person done it a 3rd time," Scheffler said. "At the extremity of the day, I conscionable didn't person what it took this week. The guys that are up of maine connected the leaderboard — there's galore of them, truthful they evidently played amended than I did."