Rory McIlroy did what he was supposed to do, he just did it one day later than he should have.
McIlroy defeated J.J. Spaun in a three-hole aggregate playoff to capture the Players Championship on Monday at TPC Sawgrass that was necessitated when the two players finished 72 holes of regulation tied at 12-under par as darkness fell on Sunday night.
It was McIlroy’s second Players victory, after he’d won it in 2019.
“I’m just glad I was able to get it done,’’ McIlroy, who earned $4.5 million for the victory, said. “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.’’
McIlroy, as No. 2 ranked player in the world and one of the greatest players of this generation, was supposed to win on Monday.
Spaun, ranked 57th and a self-described journeyman who walked onto his college golf team and considered giving up the game less than a year ago, hoped to win it.
McIlroy was “David” to Spaun’s “Goliath.”
Spaun tried to ignore those narratives, but was done in by the more decorated and experienced McIlroy very quickly in the playoff.
McIlroy birdied the 16th while Spaun parred, then bogeyed the 17th while Spaun tripled it, and he bogeyed the 18th while Spaun doubled it.
McIlroy birdied 16 after hitting a 336-yard drive and a 180-yard wedge to the green. Spaun, meanwhile, managed only a par after hitting his tee shot into right rough and his second shot into a greenside bunker.
That left McIlroy leading by one shot immediately.
The real damage was done on No. 17, the famous island-green par-3, where McIlroy hit his tee shot onto the green and Spaun followed by air-mailing an 8-iron over the green and into the water on the fly.
Spaun took triple bogey on the hole to go to 3-over while McIlroy left the door slightly ajar when he three-putted from 29 feet.
That left McIlroy leading by two shots as they went to 18. He hit his tee shot into the right rough and then Spaun, desperately needing birdie to put the pressure on McIlroy, sent his tee shot even further right and failed to put apply any pressure.
All the pressure on this Monday playoff was at the feet of McIlroy. But he’d put himself in this pressure-packed situation by failing to protect a three-shot lead with five holes to play on Sunday.
The win was McIlroy’s second this season already, having won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. This is the first time in McIlroy’s career that he’s won two tournaments before the Masters.
McIlroy has everything he could ever want out of golf other than a Masters. He’s won 28 times on the PGA Tour, 39 times worldwide. Four of those wins are major championships.
Spaun has one career win in 227 PGA Tour starts. Winning the Players would have changed his life, opened doors he never dreamt of walking through.
McIlroy, at 35, has nearly $100 million in on-course earnings and is set for life as are the next generations of his kids and their kids.
By contrast, the 34-year-old Spaun has one win on the PGA Tour and one on Korn Ferry and has some $85 million less in career earnings.
Spaun has played in six career majors to 61 for McIlroy. He has 23 career top-10 finishes to 126 for McIlroy.
You get the picture. This had potential to be a rout, and it was.
So, McIlroy, a native of Northern Ireland, won on St. Patrick’s Day.
McIlroy, on Sunday night, talked about the importance of making “five good swings” on the three playoff holes to get this done. He entered Monday 34-under par on holes 16-18 since 2009, so McIlroy surely went into the day with confidence.
The win was McIlroy’s 15th when trailing in the final round. He came back from a four-shot deficit on Sunday to force the playoff with Spaun, who was the 54-hole leader.
It was an odd week for McIlroy, who was heckled by a University of Texas player after he hit his tee shot into the lake to the left of the 18th fairway in a practice round Tuesday. The kid remarked, “Just like Augusta,’’ referring to McIlroy’s 2011 Masters blowup.
McIlroy took the kid’s cellphone and had him kicked off the property.
Then, once the tournament began, McIlroy, one of the best drivers of the golf ball in the game, failed to find fairways at TPC, hitting only four of 14 in the first round. Still, he managed to open in 5-under 67 and remain in contention all week.
McIlroy said that was a testament to him being a much more “complete’’ player than he’s ever been. Winning without his best stuff, the way he used to emulate Tiger Woods doing, is something McIlroy is proud of.
“I’ve worked really hard,’’ McIlroy said. “I feel like I’m a way more complete player than I was a few years ago. I feel like can play in all conditions and in anything that comes my way.’’