More: Keegan Bradley records hole-in-one at Players Championship on par-3, 153-yard 13th hole McIlroy's best chance to retain the lead came on No. 15 but his 6-foot birdie putt caught the left edge.

Alyn hit a marvelous approach at No. 16, after her tee shot rolled into pine straw on the left, but was up against the edge of the rough. She used a 5-iron to gouge the ball out onto the green.

He then watched from the clubhouse as Spaun, a 34-year-old from California, produced a strong approach from the pine straw before falling narrowly shy with a birdie putt to clinch the the trophy.

All but one winner at TPC Sawgrass has been inside the top 10 entering the final round, and the exception wasn’t too far behind: Rickie Fowler was T11 in 2015 before going on to win in a playoff.

Bordered by pine straw, a series of steep undulations — Pete Dye’s “moguls” — line the 14th fairway and set players up for severe ball-above-the-feet lies.

After a tee shot that found the pine straw right of the fairway, Spaun regrouped on his second shot to hit the green and set up a 30-foot birdie putt that would have won the trophy. With the fans ...

Rory McIlroy and J.J. Spaun ended the 72 holes at TPC Sawgrass in a deadlock at 12-under and will duel it out beginning at 9 a.m. Monday in a three-hole aggregate playoff on holes 16, 17 and 18.

Perhaps it’s fitting that this 51st Players Championship, the final edition before the PGA Tour scales back its membership, comes down to one of the Tour’s superstars and one of its rank-and-file ...

The 2025 Players Championship will bleed into the work week as a four-hour rain delay coupled with a tie at the end of regulation will force Rory McIlroy and J.J. Spaun back to TPC Sawgrass early ...

Both players hit wayward tee shots on the 18th and were forced to lay up from the pine straw. But McIlroy's advantage was so great that his tap-in for bogey was enough to secure his second Players ...