Players Championship three-hole playoff: How Rory McIlroy beat J.J. Spaun, shot-by-shot

Rory McIlroy defeated J.J. Spaun on Monday in a three-hole playoff to win the 51st Players Championship, at the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. Here is what happened in the playoff, shot-by-shot:

No. 16, par-521 yards, pin middle-right

McIlroy: Driver down the middle of the fairway 336 yards. Iron shot from 177 yards onto the green, two-putt for birdie from 33 feet, 6 inches, with second putt of 5 feet.

Spaun: Driver in the right rough, 309 yards. Iron shot from 213 yards into a right-front bunker. Blasted out to 22 feet, 3 inches, missed birdie attempt, made par putt of 2-1.

Playoff status: McIlroy 1-under, Spaun even.

Rory McIlroy kisses his daughter Poppy on the forehead as his wife Erica Stoll, right, watches. Rory McIlroy defeated J.J. Spaun in a three-hole aggregate playoff of the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass Monday March 17, 2025 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fl. McIlroy shot a +1 while Spaun shot a +3. [Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union]

No. 17, 130 yards, pin front-right

McIlroy: 9-iron onto the green, 29 feet from the hole. Three-putted for bogey, missing a putt of 9-2 for par.

Spaun: Hit 8-iron over the green and into the water. Went to the drop area and hit a wedge onto the green, with the ball spinning back against the second cut of rough, 42-6 from the hole. Chipped short of the hole and missed a double-bogey putt attempt of 10 feet, 4 inches.

Playoff status: McIlroy even, Spaun 3-over.

No. 18, par-4, 472 yards, pin back-left

McIlroy: Hit driver off the tee 296 yards into the right rough, punched out into the fairway, 139 yards from the hole. Hit a wedge onto the green, 16-11 from the hole, two-putted for bogey, with a second putt of 3-10.

Spaun: Hit driver off the tee, 297 yards into right rough, near the cart path. Punched out into the fairway, 142 yards from the hole. Hit wedge onto the green, with the ball drifting back, 68-3 from the hole. Putted 9-10 short and when McIlroy made his bogey, he picked up his marker and didn't finish the hole.

Playoff status: McIlroy 1-over, Spaun had a putt for bogey and would have finished 4-over if he had made it.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Players Championship showdown: How Rory McIlroy beat J.J. Spaun

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