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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

“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.<\/p>\n

“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.<\/p>\n

“But I’ll get a good night’s sleep and reset and try to win it tomorrow.”<\/p>\n

McIlroy is seeking his 28th Tour<\/strong><\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

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).<\/p>\n

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<\/strong><\/a>; T2\/Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches<\/strong><\/a>).<\/p>\n

“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.<\/p>\n

“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.<\/p>\n

“I think it put me in a pretty comfortable spot to finish off the round.”<\/p>\n