The Players Championship Ends in a Tie, Extended to Five Days
McIlroy Aims for Second Win of the Season and 28th Career Victory
Spaun Seeks Second Tour Title in Three Years Since 2022
The fifth major tournament has changed to a five-day competition.
World No. 2 Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) and J.J. Spaun (USA) tied at 12-under-par 276 in the fourth round of the PGA Tour's The Players Championship (total prize money $25 million) held on the 16th (local time) at TPC Sawgrass (par 72, 7,256 yards) in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, USA, resulting in no winner being decided. The match was suspended for four hours due to lightning and eventually extended into sunset. The playoff will take place the next morning over three holes, 16th to 18th. The winner's prize is $4.5 million (approximately 6.5 billion KRW).
McIlroy started from a tie for 8th place, four strokes behind, and recorded one eagle, four birdies, and two bogeys. He began his pursuit of the lead with a birdie on the 1st hole (par 4) and an eagle on the 2nd hole (par 5), and a bogey on the 7th hole (par 4) was immediately recovered with a birdie on the 8th hole (par 3). After a birdie on the 11th hole (par 5), lightning caused a delay, but he added another birdie on the 12th hole (par 4), taking the top spot on the leaderboard. His tee shot on the 14th hole (par 4) veered right, costing him a stroke, and he was unable to reduce his score further afterward. McIlroy won this tournament in 2019. He is aiming for his second win of the season and 28th career victory, just one month after winning the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on the 2nd of last month.
J.J. Spon is teeing off on the 6th hole of the 4th round at The Players Championship. Ponte Vedra Beach=AP·Yonhap News Photo by AP
Spaun, who was the leader the previous day, shot an even-par 72 with three birdies and three bogeys. He lost two strokes over 13 holes and fell behind in the race for the title but forced a playoff with stepping-stone birdies on the 14th and 16th holes. Spaun is challenging for his second tour win in three years since his first career victory at the Valero Texas Open in April 2022, after 147 events over six years.
Tom Hoge (USA) surged to a tie for 3rd place (10-under-par 278) with a 6-under-par 66. Akshay Bhatia and Kukas Glover share 3rd place, while world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (USA), who achieved the tournament's first-ever back-to-back wins in 2023 and 2024, finished tied for 20th (4-under-par 284). Minwoo Lee (Australia) also joined this group.
Korea's Siwoo Kim, the 2017 champion of this tournament, improved to a tie for 38th place (1-under-par 287) by lowering his score by four strokes, including a chip-in eagle on the final 9th hole (par 5). Juhyung Kim is tied for 42nd (even par 288), Byung-hoon An tied for 52nd (2-over-par 290), and Sungjae Im tied for 61st (6-over-par 294). Kyunghoon Lee missed the cut after losing four strokes through the second round.
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