Rory McIlroy started the day four shots behind Players Championship leader J.J. Spaun and fired an eagle at the par-5 2nd as well as four birdies and two bogeys to close with a 68 and reach 12-under.

McIlroy looked set to win, leading by three shots after a four hour delay due to inclement weather. However Spaun who had made two bogeys and a birdie on the front nine reversed it with a bogey and two birdies and caught up to McIlroy as darkness fell, setting up a playoff for Monday morning.

“I felt like it got a little dark with a couple of holes to go,” said McIlroy. “I hit two great shots into 15. I didn’t convert. Hit a good putt. It looked like it was going to go left to right to me, and it didn’t.

“Then on 16, as well, same sort of thing, sort of struggled to read it. It was getting a little darker. But played the last couple of holes well. Made three good swings, didn’t quite get it up the tier on 18, but a good two-putt, and I feel like I had a chance to go home with the trophy tonight.

“But I’ll get a good night’s sleep and reset and try to win it tomorrow.”

McIlroy is seeking his 28th Tour win in his 261st start and would move to T20 on the PGA Tour all-time wins list (Leo Diegel, Paul Runyan) with a win on Sunday.

At 35 years old, the Northern Irishman would be the oldest winner of The Players since 2013 (Tiger Woods/37 years, 4 months, 12 days).

Spaun seeks his second PGA Tour win in his 228th career start (2022 Valero Texas Open). The World No. 57 would become the lowest-ranked player to win the Championship since Si Woo Kim (No. 75/2017). This is the American’s third top-three finish in nine starts this season (T3/Sony Open in Hawaii; T2/Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches).

“I just tried to just fight back,” said Spaun. “I kind of went with the odds. I had nothing to lose. Now I’m trying to catch Rory, and I can’t really control what he does, but I can control what I do, and I just started committing to my shots and my swing and trusting it more. Because it’s easy to kind of — now when I’m hunting, it’s easier to let it go. Whereas, starting the round I was a little tentative, a little scared and stuff.

“The drive on 14 kind of gave me a little pep in my step because I didn’t drive it well on the front nine, so it was nice to see and feel a good tee shot that I was able to run with for the rest of the nine.

“I think it put me in a pretty comfortable spot to finish off the round.”

McIlroy and Spaun will play a three-hole aggregate playoff (Nos. 16, 17, 18) starting on Monday at 9 a.m.

If the two players remain tied after three holes, the playoff will go back to No. 17 in sudden-death format, with the rotation being 17, 18, 16, 17, 18 until a champion is determined.

“I guess it’s very much just a three-hole match play scenario,” said McIlroy. “That’s all it is. Just try to prepare as best I can tomorrow morning. Get a good night’s sleep. It’s been a very long day for all of us. Yeah, and just try to be as prepared as possible for tomorrow.”

This is the second three-hole aggregate playoff in Players Championship history (2015). It was sudden-death until 2013. It is the first three-hole aggregate playoff on Tour since the 2022 PGA Championship (Justin Thomas def. Will Zalatoris) and the first Monday finish on Tour (unscheduled) since the 2024 Wyndham Championship.

It is the ninth Monday finish in Players Championship history (1974, 1976, 1981, 1983, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2022, 2025).

Previous playoffs at The Players Championship:
• 1981: Raymond Floyd def. Barry Jaeckel and Curtis Strange
• 1987: Sandy Lyle def. Jeff Sluman
• 2008: Sergio Garcia def. Paul Goydos
• 2011: K.J. Choi def. David Toms
• 2015: Rickie Fowler def. Kevin Kisner and Sergio Garcia

Playoff Records:
• Rory McIlroy: 3-2
• J.J. Spaun: 0-0

Tom Hoge, who owns the longest active consecutive cuts made streak at this event (7), matched the low round of the day with a 66 and finished T3, matching his best finish in 2023.

Fellow American Lucas Glover tied for third, also matching his best finish in his 17th appearance (3rd/2010).

Compatriot Akshay Bhatia also finished third earning his third top-10 finish of the season in his seventh start (T9/The Genesis Invitational; 9th/Mexico Open at VidantaWorld).

Bud Cauley of the USA finished T6 and earned an exemption on the PGA Tour for the remainder of the 2025 season by reaching the top 125 threshold via the Major Medical category.

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