
via Imago
Source Credit: IMAGO

via Imago
Source Credit: IMAGO
At the start of the 14th hole on day 4, Rory McIlroy boasted a two-stroke advantage over JJ Spaun. But a bogey at 14 followed by a birdie for Spaun at 16 put both of them level heading to the final hole. Both Spaun and McIlroy held their nerve to make par, thereby leaving it to a playoff to decide the winner of the 2025 PLAYERS Championship.
The playoff was pushed to Monday as darkness crept in, hampering visibility. Both players have shown a great deal of consistency throughout the event, having never dropped out of the top 10 during the four days. It will be an interesting three holes to savor, for sure. But how do you catch the playoffs in action? We’ve got you covered.
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How can you enjoy the PLAYERS Championship playoff action?
The playoff will start at 9 AM (ET) and will be televised live in the United States on the Golf Channel, while Peacock will also stream it. For fans across the Atlantic who wish to catch McIlroy in action, Sky Sports will show the event live starting at 1 PM GMT.
The Monday playoff @THEPLAYERS will be televised on Golf Channel and streamed on Peacock beginning at 9 a.m. ET.
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) March 16, 2025
The format of the playoffs is different from most other PGA Tour events. Both Spaun and McIlroy will play three holes, the par-5 16th, par-3 17th (the Island Green), and the par-4 18th at the TPC Sawgrass, and the total score is calculated. If the scores remain tied, then what?
Well, then we move on to sudden death starting from the 17th hole, and then, if necessary, to the 18th hole. If the score remains tied after this, the players will cyclically go through 16, 17, and 18 again in a sudden-death format till one of the duo makes a mistake.
Both players will be looking forward to winning the fifth major as they have a lot riding on it.
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What’s your perspective on:
Will Rory McIlroy's experience triumph over JJ Spaun's hunger for a legacy-defining victory?
Have an interesting take?
What’s at stake for Rory McIlroy and JJ Spaun?
While age-wise, both McIlroy and Spaun are very similar, they couldn’t be more far apart in golf stature. McIlroy, a seasoned winner on the Tour, is looking to add to his tally of 27 PGA Tour victories and one PLAYERS Championship title, which he won in 2019. The Northern Irish golfer has never won more than two PGA Tour events in a calendar year before the Masters, and this would be his chance to break that record, having won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am earlier this year.
Spaun, on the other hand, has only one PGA Tour victory to date, the 2022 Valero Texas Open. He came close twice this season, finishing T3 at the Sony Open in Hawaii and T2 at the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches. He now needs to be third-time lucky. For the 34-year-old, a victory at TPC Sawgrass will be legacy-defining. It would also push him higher up in the standings in the Ryder Cup rankings and could prompt Keegan Bradley to try him out at Bethpage this year.
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An experienced winner takes on the unforgiving underdog. Who do you have winning the PLAYERS Championship title this year? Will it be the experienced Rory McIlroy? Or will Spaun take it upon himself to show the world what he is made of?
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Debate
Will Rory McIlroy's experience triumph over JJ Spaun's hunger for a legacy-defining victory?