Rory McIlroy defeats J.J. Spaun in playoff for second Players title

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Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland celebrated St. Patrick’s Day by winning a three-hole aggregate playoff against J.J. Spaun to capture his second title at The Players Championship on Monday morning at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

McIlroy took a one-shot lead when he birdied the par-5 16th hole, and the task of protecting that advantage became much easier when Spaun hit his tee shot over the famed island green at the par-3 17th and into the water.

Spaun struggled his way to a triple-bogey 6 and dropped to 3 over, trailing by three after McIlroy made a three-putt bogey. Both players missed to the right of the fairway at the par-4 18th, and the tournament was all McIlroy’s once Spaun’s third shot narrowly missed the green.

McIlroy finished up with a bogey and finished the playoff at 1 over.

McIlroy, 35, picked up the 28th victory of his PGA Tour career and his second of the year, following the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. His first Players Championship victory came in 2019, and he is the eighth player to win the prestigious event multiple times.

Spaun, 34, is stuck on just one victory in 228 tournaments in his PGA Tour career. But he continued a stellar start to the season this week by notching his third top-three finish, following a T3 at the Sony Open and a T2 at the Cognizant Classic.

On Sunday, Spaun shot a 72 after holding the overnight lead and McIlroy posted a 68 to get to 12-under 276. Spaun had a 30-foot birdie putt to win on No. 18 and left it 3 inches short.

Tom Hoge mixed seven birdies with a lone bogey en route to a 66 to share third place at 10 under with Akshay Bhatia (70) and Lucas Glover (71).

Danny Walker (70), Bud Cauley (74) and Canada’s Corey Conners (71) were a further stroke back in a tie for sixth.

–Field Level Media