And just like that, THE PLAYERS Championship is heading into its final stage. The event has seen the rise and fall of many star golfers, including Justin Thomas’s impressive climb of over 100 positions, making headlines for all the right reasons—at least until now. If you’re following the final round, you know that three major names are currently battling it out at TPC Sawgrass: Akshay Bhatia, J.J. Spaun, and Rory McIlroy. Undoubtedly, these are strong players. The competition is tough, and fans are hyped— so it’s no surprise that Spaun’s recent move has drawn ire from golf enthusiasts. What happened, you ask?

Well, Spaun didn’t start the final round very strongly. He made two bogeys and six even pars in the first eight holes, and he can do better. So, he stepped up his game! He shot a birdie on the par-5 ninth hole, helping him tie atop the leaderboard. Now, he’s playing shoulder-to-shoulder on the back nine with Rory McIlroy and Akshay Bhatia. So, what happened that made fans so angry? It all revolves around his ninth hole.

His second shot came up well short of the green and landed in the rough. He took his third shot from the fairway and spun it to 6′ 8″. NBC Sports reporter Jim “Bones” Mackay noted that it resulted from a fortunate drop. However, it’s worth mentioning that when Spaun reached his ball in the rough, he was standing on the sprinkler head, which allowed for relief. That makes sense, but after the first relief, he received another one by purposely dropping it in that spot.

Undoubtedly, fans are angry. Reporter Kyle Porter took to X to address this issue: “Bones just said that J.J. Spaun got relief from a horrible lie on 9 because he was standing on a sprinkler head. When he took relief, he purposely dropped it on another sprinkler head and ended up with relief from that one as well, giving him a perfect lie in the fairway. Sick.”

The result? After the two drops, J.J. Spaun found himself in the fairway. With two more shots, he tied with World No. 2 Rory McIlroy heading to the back nine. But if there’s one thing worse than golfers going H2H, it’s the anger of golf fans. Let’s take a look at a few reactions.

The golf world is looking very unkindly at J.J. Spaun

The first reaction, of course, comes from Porter himself. Expressing disbelief at what just happened, the reporter was even more disappointed to inform fans that J.J. Spaun’s move wasn’t illegal. “To be clear, not illegal or against the rules … just kinda stinky all the way around.” This situation relates to Rule 16.1, which states that a golfer receives free relief from interference by ground under repair, immovable obstructions like a sprinkler head, temporary water, or animal holes.

One fan seemed amazed by the turn of events, saying, “lol JJ Spaun just got relief from his relief. Moved his ball from the deep rough to the fairway, spins it to 4 feet. So whaaaaaack.” If you look at Spaun’s situation, you might think the same—two reliefs on one hole! However, another fan expressed anger, “This is bullsh*t.” while another stated, “Just utter trash.”  This incident will stay in the news for a while because of its controversial nature; even though it seems unfair, who’s to say it actually is?

The next fan commented, “@USGA but we can’t get relief from a divot in the fairway. Players shouldn’t be able to improve their lie. If you’re in the rough, you get relief in the rough. Peter Malnati got a win last year because of this cr*p.” Last year, Peter Malnati played at the Valspar Championship, where he shot his approach into a lie in the rough on the par-4 sixteenth hole. However, when he arrived at his ball, he found that he would be standing on a sprinkler head, much like Spaun. He received relief and secured his only win of the 2024 season.

Undoubtedly, his situation has generated enough controversy, but only time will tell what happens to J.J. Spaun.