PONTE VEDRA BEACH - After about a four hour delay due to lightning strikes and rain, the final round of the PLAYERS Championship golf tournament finished up with two guys playing out the final two holes; the infamous 17th hole and the 18th hole to force a three hole overtime saga on Monday morning.
J.J. Spaun, 34, of Los Angeles, and 2019 PLAYERS champion Rory McIlroy, 35, of Ireland and a past winner of the PLAYERS, battled to a draw after the storm that made the greens of the TPC Sawgrass course slushy and slow compared to the lightning smooth grounds of the three prior rounds.
With both golfers entering the 18th hole tied at 12-under for the tournament, Spaun, on his last green of the weekend, had a birdie possibility on the 18th hole that would have won the tournament outright after he birdied the 16th hole and the 14th hole to create the tie.
Spaun seemed stunned as his 30 foot putt was less than two inches short of the mark to not take the one stroke lead. McIlroy had an 80 foot putt on the 18th that he two putted to stay at 12 under.
"Everyone expects him to win," said Spaun, in his post event press conference. "I don't think a lot of people expect me to win. I expect myself to win."
Spaun has one PGA Tour win on his resume
McIlroy, with a bogie on 14, hit par to the finish on 18.
McIlroy had rounds of 67, 68, 73 and 68 while Spaun had rounds of 66, 68, 70 and 72.
Both golfers will compete on Monday, March 17 (9 a.m.) on holes 16, 17 and 18 for the $4.5 million top prize.
Three golfers finished at 10-under: Tom Hoge, Aksay Bhatsia and Lucas Glover, with Hoge finishing with a flurry to score a 66 for the final round. Bashtia, a an earlier leader for the tournament, hit 70 to finish with pars all through 11-18 unable to make up any ground on McIlroy.
Glover was hot in the final six holes with three birdies; 13, 14 and 16, but his 71 final score was not a factor after a first nine holes with three bogies.