Rory McIlroy won his 28th PGA TOUR title and second PLAYERS title at THE PLAYERS Championship. (Keyur Khamar/PGA TOUR)

TEEING OFF

MCILROY OUTLASTS SPAUN IN ULTIMATE DAVID-VS.-GOLIATH BATTLE

World No. 2 Rory McIlroy, a PGA TOUR heavyweight and owner of 28 PGA TOUR titles, outlasted world No. 57 J.J. Spaun, a former collegiate walk-on who owns one PGA TOUR win in his previous 227 starts, in the ultimate David-vs.-Goliath matchup for one of the TOUR’s most coveted prizes: THE PLAYERS Championship trophy. Both players finished in regulation at 12-under 276, two clear of the three-way tie of Tom Hoge, Akshay Bhatia and Lucas Glover. McIlroy birdied the first playoff hole, the par-5 16th, to take a one-stroke lead over Spaun, who was then derailed by a water ball en route to a triple-bogey 6 on the par-3 17th. McIlroy finished with a bogey on 18 to defeat Spaun and capture his second PLAYERS title – and second win before April – marking his most successful start to a season to date. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler ultimately fell short in his bid for a three-peat, continuing an unremarkable start to his 2025 campaign despite feeling “very close” in his recovery from a hand injury he faced in late December.

FLORIDA SWING CONCLUDES AT COPPERHEAD COURSE

The Florida Swing wraps up just outside of Tampa this week at the Valspar Championship, as players make their way to Florida’s west coast after THE PLAYERS Championship. Multiple top PGA TOUR players are making the short trip from TPC Sawgrass to Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead Course, which features the famed “Snake Pit” trio of closing holes. Ten of the top 25 players in the world, including No. 3 Xander Schauffele, No. 9 Justin Thomas and No. 10 Tommy Fleetwood, will tee it up as well as two-time Valspar champion Sam Burns and defending champion Peter Malnati.

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

Ahead of THE PLAYERS Championship 2025, NFL great Rob “Gronk” Gronkowski caddies for Will Zalatoris on Nos. 16 and 17 at TPC Sawgrass and tries his luck at the iconic island green.

THE TURN

		MIC CHECK
		“This is what everyone talks about, every great athlete talks about being in the moment and having the opportunity to win and wanting the ball, to shoot the final shot, the final three or have the last pitch to win the World Series. Those guys want the ball. I’m like, well, I want the ball. Even though I didn't win, I took a lot from that, and it's kind of carried myself through this first part of the season.” – J.J. Spaun after playoff loss to Rory McIlroy at THE PLAYERS Championship

BY THE NUMBERS

TPC Sawgrass’ island green saw three aces: Collin Morikawa’s caddie JJ Jakovac carded the first-ever ace in the 26 years of the annual caddie competition, PLAYERS first-timer Alejandro Tosti made an ace in Wednesday’s practice round and promptly took a swim and Keegan Bradley carded the 13th ace of the Stadium Course’s No. 13 in Round 4.

11	Justin Thomas set a new record for birdies in a single round at THE PLAYERS with 11 in the second round. His score of 62 tied Tom Hoge for the tournament course record.

Grant Horvat won the second event of the Creator Classic Series and the first at Pete Dye’s TPC Sawgrass. Featuring 10 golf content creators for eight holes of stroke play over Nos. 10-17, Horvat captured the title with a 15-foot birdie on No. 17, the first playoff hole, outlasting Chris Solomon of “No Laying Up” and George Bryan IV of “Bryan Bros Golf.”

Thirty-six eagles were carded over four rounds at THE PLAYERS Championship, raising $180,000 as part of the Morgan Stanley Eagles for Impact tally. The Eagles for Impact program, which returned to THE PLAYERS Championship for its ninth year, has raised more than $2 million for charities nationwide, including the youth development organization First Tee. Through the program, Morgan Stanley donates $5,000 for every eagle or double eagle made at THE PLAYERS.