“Unbelievably proud to win,” Rory McIlroy clinches 2nd The Players Championship after EPIC playoff victory against J.J. Spaun

Rory McIlroy asserts his dominance once again in the PGA Tour with 2nd major championship victory at TPC Sawgrass.

“Unbelievably proud to win,” Rory McIlroy clinches 2nd The Players Championship after EPIC playoff victory against J.J. Spaun

Rory McIlroy and J.J. Spaun [Image Credit: Imago/Fox News]

Rory McIlroy’s The Players Championship celebrations comes a day later on Monday after sealing his victory at TPC Sawgrass. The final match was between McIlroy and J.J. Spaun following a 3-hole aggregate playoff on Sunday.

The Players Championship would have ended on Sunday but bad weather pushed back the schedule. Maybe it was a good luck charm for McIlroy who bagged the $4.5 million event just the day after.

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McIlroy led Spaun by one shot but fell short as the wind carried off the birdie putt right into the water. Right after the win, McIlroy commented that he now feels complete with both The Players Championship and AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-AM win.

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I’m just glad I was able to get it done. I’m unbelievably proud to win my second Players and I think this is my third time winning on St. Patrick’s Day, so that’s been good to me.

Rory McIlroy as per Mark Cannizzaro of NYPost.com.

This win marks Rory McIlroy’s second win this season and the first in his career where he has won two major championship events before The Masters. As of now, he has won 28 events in the PGA Tour, and 39 worldwide, with four of them being major championship events.

As for Spaun, he has only one PGA Tour win in over 227 participations. If he won The Players this year it would have given him a huge jumpstart to his career. However, he only has positives to take from this tournament and is looking forward to the next match.

Rory McIlroy wins $4.5 million prize money from The Players Championship event 

With The Players Championship win, World No.2 Rory McIlroy has bagged $4.5 million from the $25 million prize purse. J.J. Spaun who came in second has won $2.725 million with the 3rd position tied by Tom Hoge, Akshay Bhatia, and Lucas Glover with a $1.325 million prize purse.

Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy [Image Credit: Imago]

This win meant a lot for McIlroy as major championship wins have been a rarity for him. Since winning The Open Championship and PGA Championship in 2014 this year has been a change for the better. 

His closest call was in 2024 during the U.S. Open. Unfortunately, the victory slipped by after missing two putts in a 5-ft and bogeyed three of his final four holes before Bryson DeChambeau took the trophy home.

His next aim is The Masters where he is yet to seal a win in his career. He came 2nd in 2022 and tied for 22nd in 2024 after missing the cut in 2023. While Scottie Scheffler, the World No.1, is the favorite to win The Masters, Rory McIlroy might just fight him off for the position.

J.J Spaun heartbroken after losing The Players Championship

The wind became the enemy of J.J. Spaun whose birdie putt got carried away and landed right in the water. He felt like “floating” after the last putt and didn’t realize where his ball went for a few seconds. 

J.J. Spaun
J.J. Spaun [Image Credit: The Independent]

“I did what I needed to do. It just didn’t work out in my favour,” Spaun said. Even Rory McIlroy said he was lucky to have made that shot given the brutal wind conditions they played in.

Nothing but positives to take from it, and hopefully I can just learn from this and get it done next time.

J.J. Spaun as per Ben Smith of GolfMagic.com.

McIlroy commented, “I feel really bad for J.J.” but at the same time is excited for his win. Spaun is currently ranked 57th in the world ranking. His last win was at the Valero Texas Open three years ago.