Two holes at TPC Sawgrass led to the J.J. Spaun-Rory McIlroy playoff at The Players

The final round of the 2025 edition of The Players Championship was interrupted early Sunday afternoon by thunderstorms that lingered. And lingered. And lingered some more.

The situation actually got so bad that it developed into the need for a tornado warning, which obviously meant it would have been irresponsible for the PGA Tour to send players and spectators back out onto the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass before the warning expired, which was at 5:00 p.m. Eastern, even though it seemed that the bad weather had long gone.  

Finally, at 5:15, exactly four hours after play was suspended, the final round resumed.

While everyone knew there was enough light left in Ponte Vedra Beach for the tournament to finish, what nobody expected was a playoff, which is what golf fans are in for after both Rory McIlroy and J.J. Spaun finished the day at 12-under.

But as there was not enough light left for that, the three-hole aggregate event will take place on Monday morning. This is the first playoff at The Players Championship since 2015 when Rickie Fowler bested Kevin Kisner and Sergio Garcia.

“All day, it was a bit of a battle,” McIlroy said following his round.

Spaun was 2-over after eight holes before making his first birdie of the day at the ninth and later credited the weather delay in helping him reset his game.

“I was in a position where I couldn’t make any mistakes,” Spaun said afterward.   

The fact is that McIlroy just didn't quite have his very best stuff down the stretch, although that wasn't the case early, as he went birdie-eagle to being his round and held a three-shot lead heading into his final five holes.

But Rory was just good enough to tie for first at the end of the day, while Spaun proved that he has comeback skills and that his best is good enough to compete with the best players on the PGA Tour.

The 14th and 16th holes at TPC Sawgrass made all the difference on Sunday at The Players Championship

In the end, it was the usually difficult par-4 14th hole and the usually easy par-5 16th hole that made all the difference on Sunday.

McIlroy’s drive on 14 was pushed into the right rough in such a difficult spot that he could only hit his second shot 87 yards back into the fairway, leaving him with 80 yards to the hole. He hit a solid third to just over 15 feet but two-putted from there for bogey, dropping him back to 12-under.   

On the 16th, Rory again hit his drive into the right rough, but he was able to get his second into the swale left of the green, a good place to miss the green and with a straight line to the flag.

However, he had 94 feet to cover to get to the hole and left his third about 12 feet short. Once again, McIlroy two-putted, this time making a disappointing par.

Spaun played the 14th brilliantly, hitting a solid drive into the fairway and then sticking his approach 14 inches from the hole, leading to a tap-in birdie to get to 11-under.

At the 16th, Spaun again found the fairway off the tee and, like McIlroy, hit his second left of the green, leaving him a similar distance at 94 feet and one inch after getting a favorable bounce.  

Unlike Rory, though, Spaun was able to get his third all the way back to the hole, nearly making it before his ball came to rest nine inches from the cup, giving him another tap-in birdie to tie McIlroy at 12-under.

As McIlroy did, Spaun made pars at 17 and 18, thus giving golf fans the sixth playoff in Players Championship history.