PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Minutes after the horn sounded and The Players Championship resumed play after a four-hour rain delay, Rory McIlroy found himself with a comfortable three-shot lead over tour journeyman J.J. Spaun and rest of the field. The next six holes could only be described as a mad scramble to avoid disaster or survive for one more day for the pair. That’s how Sunday evening resulted in a four-time major champion and the No. 57 player in the world tied atop the leaderboard at the PGA Tour’s premier event.
TPC Sawgrass will open its gates for one more day Monday as McIlroy and Spaun face off for a three-hole aggregate playoff on Nos. 16, 17 and 18 at 9 a.m. ET. If they’re still tied after the three-hole stretch, the players will start sudden-death play on No. 17 and then No. 18, if necessary. It’ll air on Golf Channel and will be streamed on Peacock.
“I feel like I had a chance to go home with the trophy tonight. But I’ll get a good night’s sleep and reset and try to win it tomorrow,” McIlroy said.
Said Spaun: “Everyone expects (McIlroy) to win. I don’t think a lot of people expect me to win. I expect myself to win. That’s all I care about.”
Lackluster golf shots by all and heart palpitations defined the final stretch at The Players Championship, but the biggest missed opportunity was in the hands of the Northern Irishman.
With tee times moved up multiple hours to avoid an incoming storm, the leaderboard Sunday morning was dominated by young talent, a PGA Tour journeyman and just one other major winner in Lucas Glover, with Collin Morikawa lurking after an early birdie run. Even four shots behind to begin the day, McIlroy was the most established name with a chance to win, with a birdie-eagle start increasing his chances dramatically.
J.J. Spaun shot an even-par 72 to get into a playoff Monday. (Richard Heathcote / Getty Images)
McIlroy’s Sunday performance had bursts of green light, foot-on-the-gas energy, but it was dragged by multiple hiccups. McIlroy hit a drive so far offline to the right on No. 14 that he successfully avoided the pine straw original architect Pete Dye intended to defend that side of the hole. He escaped the predicament but failed to save par and walked away at 12 under.
Then came the par-5 16th, McIlroy’s chance to pull away, with Spaun hanging around after a birdie on the 14th got him to 11 under. McIlroy, seeking his second Players championship in six years, found the rough again off the tee and placed his approach in the run-off area to the left of the green, with a chance to get up and down for birdie. He instead left his chip 13 feet short, walking after it with a look of disgust, and two-putted for a par — a significant missed opportunity.
Moments later, Spaun, who started the day with a one-shot lead, found himself with a chip that looked nearly identical and skipped it up next to the cup for a tap-in birdie. The two players, with profiles that couldn’t be more different aside from their ages, were tied at the top.
Both found land on the famed island green par-3 17th. McIlroy’s was tighter but nestled up against the collar of the floating putting surface, and he again could not convert for birdie. Spaun lagged his 42-footer up the tiered portion of the green to within two feet and also walked away with a par.
Up ahead, McIlroy pulled a long iron out for the daunting tee shot on No. 18, placing it perfectly in the center of the fairway. Then it was the approach that let him down: McIlroy had words for the wind that held up his 158-yard iron, leaving a 75-foot putt. He gave it a run with accurate speed but underestimated the break slightly, leaving approximately four feet for par, which he lipped in.
With daylight dwindling, only a Spaun birdie could end the tournament Sunday evening. Spaun’s drive found the pine straw to the right of the 18th fairway. He blasted an iron out of the less-than-ideal lie and found himself 30 feet from the pin. A midrange lag putt for the biggest win of his career. Spaun, 34, has just one PGA Tour win in his 13 years as a professional. He left it inches short of the cup. Monday morning it is.
(Top photo of Rory McIlroy: Richard Heathcote / Getty Images)
