PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Well, obviously, this thing was over.
In a span of seven minutes Sunday at The Players Championship, J.J. Spaun went from one shot behind to three back after a bogey-birdie flip with Rory McIlroy up ahead.
It was a nice run for Spaun, wasn’t it? A 34-year-old journeyman type who had played his way into the biggest spot of his career. Claimed the 54-hole lead. Impressed fans with his grit and game, with his likable demeanor, with his relatable daily struggle. But now that story, his story, was predictably coming to an end – after a four-hour weather delay, he made a mess of the par-5 11th and seemed too far behind, with too few holes left, to catch the No. 2 player in the world.
“I kind of went with the odds,” Spaun said. “I had nothing to lose.”
And so Spaun started committing to his shots. Trusting his swing. Too many times in his career, he admits, he has lacked the necessary self-belief and conviction to challenge for the biggest titles in the game.
“I’ve just kind of been afraid of being in that spotlight, being in that pressure, being worried about failure,” he said.
It’s something that recent PGA Tour winner Thomas Detry admitted, too. That he was so afraid of getting into the lead and failing that he decided he’d rather not even be in that spot at all. It wasn’t until Detry proved himself last month at the WM Phoenix Open, ripping off four birdies in a row to win, that he truly understood just how flawed that logic was.
Spaun is starting to come to grips with that, too.
On the par-4 14th, the hardest hole on the course – the same hole that, in the previous group, McIlroy had sailed his drive way right and taken bogey – Spaun began to fight back, taking dead aim and knocking his approach to a foot for a kick-in birdie.
One back.
Rory McIlroy and J.J. Spaun will square off in a three-hole aggregate playoff on Monday morning at TPC Sawgrass.
On 16 – the same hole that, in the previous group, McIlroy had settled for par after a so-so chip – Spaun hit a perfect drive around the corner, missed in the correct spot left of the green and pitched to a foot.
Now, he was tied.
Two consecutive pars to close, in near darkness, helped propel Spaun into an unlikely spot: a three-hole aggregate playoff with McIlroy. The overtime period, beginning at 9 a.m. ET on Golf Channel, will cover three of the most daunting holes in golf, Nos. 16-18 on the Stadium Course, and Spaun just proved that he’s up for the challenge.
“I showed myself that I don’t have to shy away from the moment,” he said.
Afterward, McIlroy seemed to be wondering how he even found himself in the playoff to begin with.
No, he didn’t play perfectly down the stretch – his drive on 14 was miles right, and he twice was fooled by reads over the final hour in the fading daylight. But he also didn’t get many breaks. A foot further left, his tee shot on 13 easily could have caught the ridge and funneled down toward the cup. His tee shot on the par-5 16th barely found the right rough. His wedge on 17 came to rest against the collar and made for an awkward 13-footer up the hill.
After taking a three-shot lead, he played the remaining six holes in 1 over par.
McIlroy hoping to reset and win Players in playoff
Rory McIlroy describes how he feels after finishing in a tie at the top of The Players Championship leaderboard and whether he was paying attention to the final stretch of J.J. Spaun’s fourth round.
“I feel like I had a chance to go home with the trophy tonight,” he said. “But I’ll get a good night’s sleep and reset and try to win it tomorrow.”
It’s just five full swings, and McIlroy should have every conceivable advantage.
With his powerful draw, McIlroy should be able to sling it 30 yards past Spaun on the reachable par-5 16th and require less club off the tee on the watery 18th. He’s been significantly tighter with his approach play this week. He holds a 5-0 advantage in the number of Tour playoffs contested, and he has more than a decade of match-play experience to hold over his opponent. Fans who show up for the Monday morning restart will almost certainly be rooting for one of the game’s most popular players.
“Everyone expects him to win. I don’t think a lot of people expect me to win,” Spaun said. “But I expect myself to win. That’s all I care about.”
