Rory McIlroy Wins 2025 Players Championship in a Playoff
Ponte Vedra Beach, FL – Rory McIlroy (-12) beat JJ Spaun in a Monday morning 3-hole aggregate playoff to win the 2025 Players Championship, the PGA Tour’s crown jewel event. It is his second career victory at this event. After making birdie on the first hole, the par-5 16th, to Spaun’s par, Spaun rinsed his tee shot on 17 while McIlroy found dry land. Rory stood on the 18th tee with a three stroke advantage and was able to cruise to victory.
With the final round postponed for several hours due to a band of heavy storms sweeping across TPC Sawgrass, there was barely enough light to squeeze in the 72 holes of regulation. After that time, McIlroy and Spaun were deadlocked at -12. Both made clutch pars in near-darkness on the difficult and intimidating 18th, a hole which gave up only a solitary birdie in the final round (to Tommy Fleetwood).
McIlroy once again showed his class and longevity. He will certainly feel that he left a few good chances to slam the door go begging. Spaun, a credible pro with a Tour win to his name, showed his quality as well, keeping his nerve down the stretch as the pressure mounted. For its part, TPC Sawgrass showed why it is one of the great tests for the world’s best. Combined with difficult conditions, its collection of demanding and strategic holes confounded players again and again.
Finishing behind McIlroy and Spaun was a trio of players at -10: Lucas Glover, Tom Hoge, and Akshay Bhatia. Hoge was the big mover of the day, shooting a final round best 66 and jumping way up the leaderboard as a result. Glover was consistently good throughout the week as well, taking advantage of his skill set as an elite ball striker and making just enough birdies. Bhatia is the one among them who may feel disappointed with the result. A 36-hole co-leader, he was elite tee to green and just couldn’t convert the necessary putts.
Another trio of players finished a stroke behind them in T6: Danny Walker, Corey Conners, and Bud Cauley. Walker was one of the least known players in the field coming into the week and took maximum advantage of his opportunity. He’ll look to build on his career-best finish moving forward. Conners, like Glover, is an elite ball striker who found the combination of demanding tee to green shots and tough conditions played in his favor. And Cauley is a remarkable story as well, having come back from a horrific car crash in 2018, he was an alternate, one of the last men in the field this week.
Other players who had notable performances included back-to-back defending champion Scottie Scheffler who never got his game out of second gear and was often visibly frustrated in the process, finishing T20 at -14; Min Woo Lee, who also finished T20 but took a very different route to get there by holding the 36-hole lead with Bhatia and ejecting on the weekend going 78-73; 2025 Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley continued to play well, also finishing in the large group at T20 and providing more fuel for the questions of whether or not he will qualify to play.
Not all the top players in the field played well enough to finish in the top 25, however. World number five and one of the betting favorites Ludvig Aberg failed to make the cut; World number three Xander Schauffele made the cut but struggled to a last place finish after rounds of 77-81 on the weekend as he works to regain form and fitness after an extended period away due to injury; and last year’s runner-up Wyndham Clark WD’d after nine holes of his second round, citing a neck injury.
Next week, the PGA Tour continues its Florida swing at the Valspar Championship. Peter Malnati is the defending champion there and will defend his title against a field that includes Xander Schauffele, Jordan Spieth, Viktor Hovland, Will Zalatoris, and Tom Kim.
Rory McIlroy What’s In The Bag
Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 9° (Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X)
3 Wood: TaylorMade Qi10 15° (Fujikura Ventus Black 8 X
5 Wood: TaylorMade Qi10 18° (Fujikura Ventus Black 9 X)
Irons: TaylorMade P760 4, TaylorMade Rors Proto 5-9 (Project X 7.0)
Wedges: TaylorMade MG4 46°-09SB, 50°-09SB, 54°-11SB, 60°-08LB (Project X 6.5)
Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour X
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