Rory McIlroy Continues Surge By Winning PLAYERS, Eyeing First Masters Victory
It might be time for the "Rory McIlroy can't close on Sunday" narrative to take a seat. For the second time this season, McIlroy captured a signature event on the PGA Tour, this time winning the PLAYERS Championship with another stellar final-round performance.
Of course, that narrative exists because McIlroy has a reputation (and history) of not-so-good Sunday performances, but that wasn't an issue this week, just like it wasn't an issue at Pebble Beach last month.
And, sure, McIlroy didn't exactly win on Sunday. But he shot a final-round 68, which was better than all but five other players. The world's #2 golfer entered Sunday four shots back of the leader, J.J. Spaun, but he put on a vintage Rory McIlroy performance at TPC Sawgrass.
He could have won it on Sunday, if not for a four-hour weather delay that pushed the tournament back, causing a three-hole aggregate playoff on Monday morning against Spaun, who shot even par.
Rory McIlroy captured the PLAYERS Championship with a great final round, and he has his sights firmly set on next month's Masters Tournament, the one major he hasn't won.
(David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Going into Sunday's delay, McIlroy led Spaun by one shot, but Rory immediately ripped off a birdie while Spaun made bogey to open up a three-shot advantage with six holes to play.
However, Spaun fought back. He made birdie on both the par-4 14th hole the par-5 16th hole to get back to 12-under. Couple that with McIlroy making a sloppy bogey on 14th hole and failing to make birdie on 16 and the two men went to the 18th hole tied.
McIlroy played in the penultimate group, so he played the 18th hole ahead of Spaun. He made a solid par to post the top score in the clubhouse at 12-under.
Spaun stepped up, needing par to force a playoff against McIlroy or birdie to win the tournament outright. His birdie putt to win seemed to be tracking right into the center of the cup… but fell inches short.
Rory McIlroy beats J.J. Spaun in Monday's playoff, capturing the PLAYERS Championship, his second win of the young 2025 season
That Spaun missed putt on 18 left the pair to wait until Monday morning to finish the tournament, as darkness had started to set in following the end of Spaun's round.
Unfortunately for those hoping for a dramatic finish, they were left disappointed. McIlroy birdied the first hole of the aggregate three-hole playoff, taking a one-shot lead after Spaun made par.
Spaun stepped up to the famous par-3 17th hole, needing to hit one in tight to put the pressure back on McIlroy. Unfortunately, that's not what happened.
Spaun would have had an opportunity, too, as McIlroy three-putted on 17 to make bogey to drop back to even par for the playoff. But after Spaun hit into the water, he left his third shot way short and also three-putted to make a disastrous triple bogey.
McIlroy took a three-shot lead to 18 and easily coasted to the win.
The victory represented McIlroy's fourth PGA Tour victory in the past calendar year, winning twice in 2024 (Zurich Classic of New Orleans and the Wells Fargo Championship) along with the previously mentioned AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am earlier this year.
McIlroy continues to chase the elusive major championship victory
Despite being one of the world's best golfers for the past 15 years, major victories have eluded McIlroy since he won both the PGA Championship and Open Championship in 2014.
McIlroy won four major titles from 2011-14 but finds himself in the midst of an epic dry streak.
Rory McIlroy won the 2014 PGA Championship, the last time he captured a major title.
(Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
His closest call came at last year's U.S. Open, but the Northern Irishman missed two putts inside 5 feet and bogeyed three of his final four holes to lose by one shot to Bryson DeChambeau.
McIlroy took a few weeks off from golf after that final-round meltdown at Pinehurst, but he's in great form heading into the 2025 major season. In 2024, McIlroy didn't finish higher than 19th in any of the first five tournaments, including the PLAYERS.
This year, McIlroy hasn't finished lower than 17th in any of the four events he's played, including the two victories.
The first major on the 2025 schedule is The Masters, the one major tournament that McIlroy has failed to win in his illustrious career.
He finished second in 2022 and came in a tie for 22nd last year after missing the cut in 2023.
Scottie Scheffler, the world's top-ranked golfer and the reigning Masters champion, is the favorite to capture another green jacket. However, McIlroy is gaining ground.
Last month, McIlroy was the third-betting favorite, also trailing Xander Schauffele. But McIlroy's play this year has caught the attention of bookmakers, who have moved him just behind Scheffler (Scottie is +350 and Rory is +650 at DraftKings).
In addition, Scheffler hasn't quite seemed himself so far in 2025, having not won an event yet. That being said, he's still posted Top 25 finishes in all five events he's played, including a third-place finish at the Genesis Invitational.
The 2025 Masters begins on Thursday, April 10.