On Sunday, Rory McIlroy had to come from behind to get himself into a playoff at The Players Championship. On Monday, he won the playoff with relative ease over J.J. Spaun to win golf's so-called fifth major.

Rory McIlroy won The Players Championship in a Monday finish over J.J. Spaun that featured three dynamic playoff holes at the TPC Sawgrass, a harsh wind and very little drama.

If the PGA Tour journeyman wins the 2025 Players, he'll look back at how he took advantage of the Rules on the ninth hole Sunday to turn a nightmare lie into an improbable birdie

Jim "Bones" Mackay said J.J. Spaun purposely dropped his golf ball on a sprinkler head to get relief from the rough into the fairway.

One of those underdogs is J.J. Spaun, who began Saturday’s third round in solo third at 10-under par and one shot off the lead. He is also playing in the penultimate pairing with McIlroy, thus setting up quite the dichotomy since the Northern Irishman is perhaps the most popular player in the sport not named Tiger Woods.