JJ Spaun In Disbelief Watching Replay Of His Water Ball On 17 After Losing Playoff At The Players

J.J. Spaun had a magical four days at TPC Sawgrass, but unfortunately, he had to return to the property on Monday morning to take on Rory McIlroy in a three-hole playoff with The Players on the line, and things went south in a hurry.

McIlroy made easy work of the first playoff hole, making birdie on the Par 5 16th, while Spaun managed a shaky par after.

Despite momentum very much being on McIlroy's side, Spaun had plenty of life left standing on the tee of the anything-can-happen Par 3 17th hole. Even after McIlroy hit his tee shot to 29 feet, the door was still open for Spaun. 

Find land, give yourself a look at birdie, and at worst take your par and live to see the 18th tee.

Instead, Spaun completely air-mailed the green with an 8-iron and found the water hazard. He overly compensated for the hurting wind, and his chances to win what would have been his second PGA Tour title were gone. 

READ: Rory Avoids Embarrassment, Scottie Isn't Having Fun, Spaun's Guts, And More Musings From The Players

Spaun was understandably shocked to see his golf ball not find land. The shot looked fantastic on the broadcast, so there is no telling how good it looked for him leaving the clubface.

Spaun obviously wasn't able to see any sort of replay of his tee shot on 17 while out on the course, therefore had no real idea just how badly he air mailed the putting surface.

During his post-round press conference with televisions on behind the reporters he was facing, Spaun reacted to his errant teeshot in real-time, and couldn't believe where his ball ended up in the water.

Spaun didn't have his best stuff on Monday morning, which hardly ever turns out well when taking on McIlroy in what was essentially a match-play scenario. Nevertheless, his runner-up finish should give him some serious confidence for the remainder of the season.