The first 12 holes on Sunday at TPC Sawgrass saw one of the game’s biggest heavyweights throw his best punch to get the advantage. The final six holes saw a triple-digit underdog throw his best punch back.
The result – a three-hole playoff Monday morning between Rory McIlroy and J.J. Spaun at the Players Championship.
PLACE
PLAYER
ROUND 4 SCORE
TOTAL TO PAR
T-1
Rory McIlroy
68
-12
T-1
J.J. Spaun
72
-12
T-3
Lucas Glover
71
-10
T-3
Tom Hoge
66
-10
T-3
Akshay Bhatia
70
-10
T-6
Danny Walker
70
-9
T-6
Corey Conners
71
-9
T-6
Bud Cauley
74
-9
9
Robert MacIntyre
69
-8
T-10
Collin Morikawa
69
-7
T-10
Davis Thompson
70
-7
McIlroy – the thoroughbred – began the day four strokes off Spaun’s lead. He had almost erased that entire deficit 25 minutes into his round. An electric birdie-eagle start brought him within one, and by the time the horn sounded in the early afternoon to stop play due to weather, McIlroy held a one-stroke lead.
Four hours later, play began again, and McIlroy poured in another birdie on his first hole back. That – combined with Spaun’s bogey on 11 – pushed the lead to three.
The remainder of the day should have been a McIlroy coronation, but Spaun had other ideas.
The 34-year-old answered with birdies on No. 14 – the hardest hole of the day – and No. 16 to pull even with the 2019 champion, and he stood on the 18th green with a 30-footer to win. It ended three inches short, pushing the event into Monday, where an electric three-hole aggregate playoff on holes 16-18 awaits.
“I’m happy to be in the position that I am, but also I feel like I had chances there on the back nine to close the door, and I didn’t quite do that,” McIlroy told ASAP Sports. “But I’m excited for the opportunity tomorrow.”
McIlroy and Spaun will tee off on the 16th hole at 9:00 a.m ET. Should they remain tied after three holes, the format flips to sudden death, with No. 17 the first test, followed by the 18th if necessary.
“I didn’t even know it was a three-hole playoff. I thought we were just going to go straight to 17 like tonight. (Rules official) Gary Young told me, he’s like, ‘No, you’re coming back in the morning,’” Spaun admitted, according to ASAP Sports. “It’s not the same thing as a playoff, sudden death. Yeah, you kind of have to have some strategy. You kind of have to play off of how he’s playing, too, I think. I haven’t really given it too much thought, but I just know those three holes, anything can happen.”
The pin locations on holes 16-18 will be the same Monday morning as they were Sunday – a stretch that saw Spaun go 1-under while McIlroy shot even.
The last playoff at the event came 10 years ago when Rickie Fowler claimed the biggest trophy of his career with some incredible shotmaking down the stretch.
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