Rory McIlroy, J.J. Spaun in a playoff

McIlroy, Spaun tied after marathon Sunday at Stadium Course at 12-under-par 276

• Rory McIlroy and J.J. Spaun will face off in a three-hole playoff for the Players Championship title.
• McIlroy led by three strokes but missed several birdie opportunities, allowing Spaun to catch up.
• The winner will receive $4.5 million, a five-year PGA Tour exemption, and a three-year exemption into all four majors.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Rory McIlroy had plenty of chances to floor the gas pedal. 

J.J. Spaun had one golden opportunity to win. 

Both blinked and now they’re facing each other in a three-hole St. Patrick’s Day showdown on Monday at the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass for the 51^st Players Championship, the second year in a row The Players will end on a March 17 and the second Monday finish in the last five years.

McIlroy (68) missed birdie-putt attempts both long and short on his last four holes on Sunday and Spaun (72) left a 30-foot attempt at No. 18 inches away in the heart of the cup, ending a marathon day that included a four-hour weather delay tied for the lead in The Players Championship at 12-under-par 276. 

Tom Hoge (66, the day’s low round), Akshay Bhatia (70) and Lucas Glover (71) tied for third at 10-under. Two players with Jacksonville ties, former resident Bud Cauley (74) and a 2019 transplant, Danny Walker (70) tied for sixth with Canadian Corey Conners (71) at 9-under. 

Tour officials moved up the starting times in hopes of finishing early to beat a line of thunderstorms. It wasn’t enough and play was suspended at 1:15 p.m. with the final threesome of Spaun, Cauley and Glover on the 11th home.

McIlroy lost a three-shot lead 

McIlroy made a quick birdie at No. 12 coming out of the delay and Spaun bogeyed the par-5 11^th to give McIlroy a three-shot lead. 

But McIlroy, the 2019 Players champion, squandered every chance he had to put more distance on the field and Spaun, the stocky 34-year-old Los Angeles native kept his head down and caught up with kick-in birdies at Nos. 14 and 16. 

Both players parred Nos. 17 and 18 and will come back at 9 a.m. on Monday to compete in the sixth playoff in tournament history, the fifth at the Stadium Course and the second under the three-hole aggregate format that was instituted in 2014 and used for the only time thus far in 2015 when Rickie Fowler turned back Kevin Kisner and Sergio Garcia. 

Perhaps McIlroy, a native of Northern Ireland, may have the luck of the Irish going for him. His 2019 victory came on St. Patrick’s Day.

Spaun puts the pressure on McIlroy 

Spaun had the last chance to end it, after he gouged an iron shot out of the pine straw to the right of the 18^th fairway onto the putting surface. 

He has no regrets about the putt, especially after he hit a second shot at No. 14 to within 14 inches of the hole and chipped to within 9 inches for birdie at No. 16. 

And Spaun, who has won just once on the PGA Tour and entered the tournament ranked 57^th in the world, said McIlroy has all the pressure. 

“I would think so. I mean, everyone expects him to win,” Spaun said. “I don’t think a lot of people expect me to win. I expect myself to win. That’s all I care about.” 

McIlroy lacking killer instinct 

McIlroy has only himself to blame. He followed his birdie at No. 12 with a bogey at the 14^th, courtesy of a wild drive to the right, and then missed birdie attempts of 5, 11 and 13 feet on the next three holes, and 73 feet at No. 18 after a marginal second shot. 

It continued a career arc of failing to exhibit a killer instinct in big events after he won four majors between 2011 and 2014, then added The Players and three FedEx Cup titles between 2016-2022. 

To be fair, McIlroy did rally from four shots behind Spaun at the start of the round with a birdie at No. 1 and a 10-foot eagle putt at No. 2. He then birdied Nos. 8 and 11 and Spaun played the front nine at 1-over to give McIlroy a one-shot lead before a line of thunderstorms chased the field and fans off the course. 

“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,” he said. “But I’m excited for the opportunity tomorrow.” 

Playoff will be three-hole aggregate 

McIlroy and Spaun will start at the par-5 16^th hole and play Nos. 17 and 18. The best score wins. 

But it may go longer. If they’re tied after three holes they will go to the par-3 17^th hole and play sudden death until it’s over. 

That’s what happened in the Fowler-Kisner-Garcia playoff. Garcia bowed out after three holes and Fowler beat Kisner on a 4-foot birdie putt on the fourth hole. 

The longest playoff before that was the three holes it took Sandy Lyle to beat Jeff Sluman in 1987. Every other playoff was just one hole of sudden death: Raymond Floyd over Curtis Strange in 1981 at the Sawgrass Country Club; Sergio Garcia over Paul Goydos in 2008; and K.J. Choi over David Toms in 2011. 

What’s at stake for the playoff opponents? 

A lot of money and job security, for starters. The winner will earn $4.5 million ($2.725 million as the consolation prize), 750 FedEx Cup points, a five-year exemption on the PGA Tour (including The Players) and a three-year exemption into the four majors. 

McIlroy, a 27-time Tour winner, a four-time major champion and ranked No. 2 in the world, already has $95.2 million in career earnings, and is exempt in the majors and The Players for the foreseeable future. 

For Spaun, who thought he would lose his card in the middle of the 2024 season, then rattled off a series of top-10 finishes that has carried over to this season, those perks would mean the world. 

And he said he will not cower in McIlroy’s presence. 

“I showed myself that I don’t have to shy away from the moment,” Spaun said. “I think in the past I’ve done that, just kind of been afraid of being in that spotlight, being in that pressure, be worried about failure. But it’s hard to win, and you have to fail multiple times in order to win. That’s kind of what I’ve learned throughout my career, and it paid off today.”