Rory McIlroy captured his 28th career PGA TOUR victory in a three-hole aggregate Monday playoff over J.J. Spaun for his second Players Championship.
McIlroy set the tone with a marvelous drive that led to a birdie on the par-5 16th hole, while Spaun rallied to save par. The Northern Irishman then hit the green on the iconic par-3 17th while Spaun’s tee shot went over the island for a Sawgrass splash, leading to triple bogey in windy conditions to end any chance of victory.
35-year-old McIlroy won this tournament in 2019, also on St. Patrick’s Day. That makes him only the 8thmultiple winner of the Players and moving and into 2nd place in the Official World Golf Rankings.
“I’m really proud of my body of work. I turned pro in 2007. My first season on the PGA TOUR was 2009. I’ve tried to get better every year and I feel like I’m continually try to do,” said McIlroy. “The younger guys coming out now are getting better and better every single year and I need to keep working hard to hang with them and I’m doing a pretty good job of it.”
McIlroy also finds himself atop the FedEx Cup standings while Spaun made a 10-position leap to number 5 thanks to his runner up finish.
Spaun and McIlroy each finished 12 under par after 72 holes Sunday before running out of daylight thanks to a four-hour rain delay.
For Spaun, only a year younger than McIlroy and still chasing his second TOUR victory, the splash on 17 will be a memory he won’t soon forget.
“It’s hard to not feel discouraged a little bit, but nothing but positives in putting myself in contention and giving myself a chance to win in a playoff, said Spaun. “If someone told me that would happen to start the week, I would totally take it. Nothing but positives to take from it, and hopefully, I can just learn from this and get it done next time.”
With a win earlier this season at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, this marks the first time in his career that he has won twice in a season before the Masters.
The quest for the Green Jacket at Augusta is three weeks away. It’s the only major missing from McIlroy’s certain hall of fame resume. A victory there would make him only the sixth man to complete a career grand slam.
