Rory McIlroy has remained bullish about his chances of winning The Players Championship despite being forced into a play-off by JJ Spaun. After a four-hour delay for lightning at TPC Sawgrass, the Northern Irishman took a three-shot lead at the 12th hole and looked in control of the tournament.
However, he faltered over the closing holes as Spaun fought back, the American even fashioning a chance to win it on the 18th. His birdie putt from 31 feet fell agonisingly short, meaning both players finished 12 under par. The pair will now fight it out over three holes today, and will tee off on the 16th at 1pm.
Afterwards, McIlroy conceded he missed a big chance to seal the tournament for the first time since 2019. However, he vowed not to let that affect him in Monday’s shootout.
« All day it was a bit of a battle, I’m standing here feeling like I probably should be going home with the trophy tonight, » he said. « But that’s fine. I’ll reset and hopefully go home with the trophy tomorrow.
« I feel like I gave myself chances to close the door and win this golf tournament but I didn’t quite do that. So I am going to have to do it the hard way. »
After dropping a shot on the 14th, the 35-year-old missed a series of putts as he parred the last four holes. In contrast, Spaun grabbed birdies on the 14th and 16th to level matters before coming so close to an outright win at the last.
McIlroy had started the final round four shots back at eight under par, but birdied the first and then eagled the par-five second to storm back into contention. Further birdies at the 8th and 11th saw him seize control before play was suspended at around 5.15pm due to the threat of lightning.
Play resumed four hours later, with McIlroy seemingly picking up where he left off with another birdie on the 12th, putting him on course for a 28th PGA Tour title. However, then things unravelled, and he and Spaun will tee off at 1pm UK time today and fight it out over the 16th, 17th, and 18th for the title.
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