Rory McIlroy has won The PLAYERS Championship for the second time in his career. After a dramatic Sunday, McIlroy and JJ Spaun came back to TPC Sawgrass for a three-hole aggregate playoff. The Northern Irishman started hot, with a birdie on 16 that put Spaun on his heels. When they got to the iconic 17th hole, the island green claimed its latest victim.
Splash for Spaun on 17
pic.twitter.com/Rdj0eYu6nM
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 17, 2025
Spaun made a good swing but had the wrong club, sailing the ball over the green even into a stiff breeze. His shot from the drop zone left him with a tough chip over the spine of the green. Two putts after that ended in a triple bogey for Spaun. McIlroy did not exactly ace the test on 17 either, making a bogey, but held a three-shot lead heading to 18.
Both players flew their drives way right on the 18th, far away from the water that lurks along the left. After punch-outs, McIlroy hit his approach much closer than Spaun’s. A two-putt bogey secured the win in the three-hole playoff for McIlroy. It is his 28th PGA Tour win and second PLAYERS Championship.
Rory McIlroy has again won @THEPLAYERS!
He conquers the conditions, the course and the competition for his 28th PGA TOUR victory. pic.twitter.com/7ReCgMMwSU
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 17, 2025
This is McIlroy’s second win of the season, with the first coming at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February. The golf world now turns its eyes to Augusta with The Masters just a month away. McIlroy has never won a Green Jacket and is barrelling toward the second week of April with momentum. Maybe this is the year he finally completes the career Grand Slam.
Spaun fell painfully short of his second career PGA Tour win on Monday morning. A PLAYERS would been unquestionably the biggest moment of his career but more could be coming. With a lack of depth on the American Ryder Cup team, he should for 73 holes this week why he may be at Bethpage this fall.
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