Weekly PGA Recap: McIlroy Plucks PLAYERS in Playoff

This article is part of our Weekly PGA Recap series.

Roughly one-third of the way through the PGA Tour season, here's an update:

• Scottie Scheffler: 5 tournaments, no wins
• Xander Schauffele: 3 tournaments, no wins
• Rory McIlroy: 4 tournaments, 2 wins

On a crisp St. Patrick's Day morning at TPC Sawgrass, McIlroy handily won a three-hole playoff over J.J. Spaun to capture his second PLAYERS Championship for one of the biggest wins of his illustrious career. 

McIlroy and Spaun needed to come back on Monday after they finished regulation on Sunday at 12-under, with a four-hour weather delay leaving no time for the playoff.

The Northern Irishman found the fairway and birdied the par-5 16th while Spaun parred after landing in the rough. McIlroy then hit the island green on the famed par-3 17th and, when Spaun missed land altogether, the tournament was effectively over. McIlroy won the playoff by two strokes. 

We haven't even reached the majors yet, it's still early in the season, but is this finally once again McIlroy's year? That question has been asked every year for more than a decade now, with never once being answered in the affirmative.

McIlroy won the most recent of his four majors in 2014. He won his one prior PLAYERS Championship in 2019 (also on St. Patrick's Day). We could argue that Monday's win is one of the five biggest of his Hall of Fame career. McIlroy is one of only seven players to win the PLAYERS twice at TPC Sawgrass (Scheffler was the sixth last year).

Meanwhile, Scheffler and Schauffele have both been slowed by injuries so far this season, neither coming close to victory and neither looking like last year's self, when Scheffler won a major and six other tournaments and Schauffele won his first two career majors.

The rankings still say Scheffler is No. 1, still by a wide margin and still deservedly so. But McIlroy is now again No. 2, having also won at Pebble Beach last month.

It seems so long ago, but McIlroy trailed by four shots when Sunday's final round began. And, soon after the long weather delay, he grabbed a three-shot lead on the back-nine. 

So, we did get the full McIlroy experience at TPC Sawgrass. He even bogeyed the first two playoff holes.

In other words, McIlroy didn't fully let us forget how things have often and still can go sideways for him, especially in the biggest tournaments.

"I've worked really hard," McIlroy told Carla Banks on Golf Channel moments after he won. "I feel like I'm a way more complete player than I was a few years ago. Even in [windy] conditions like this. That little 9-iron into 17, the little 8-iron into the last there, I said to Harry [Diamond, caddie] there, that little shot will take us a long way.

I feel like I can play in all conditions and anything that comes my way."

McIlroy is a more complete player, for sure.

Augusta is less than a month away.

We shall see if 2025 truly is McIlroy's year once again.

MONDAY BACKSPIN

J.J. Spaun
Spaun has one career win and outwardly wondered whether he could win a tournament of this magnitude. He didn't win. But now he knows he can. Spaun caught a bad break in the playoff when his tee shot on No. 17 cut through the wind and went over the green. But this week continued what's shaping up as a career year for Spaun, who now has two runners-up and a tie for third already this season. He is ranked in the top-10 on Tour in SG: Approach and top-20 in Tee-to-Green. Spaun is now up to a career-best 25th in the world rankings. 

Lucas Glover
Glover has struggled mightily at the PLAYERS through the years. Yet he tied for third, matching his best finishing at Sawgrass. This is his second top-10 and third top-25 of the year, an improvement over last year, when he missed the playoffs. He's ranked 88th in SG: Putting, which bodes well for him considering he's so strong in other areas.

Akshay Bhatia
Bhatia parred the last eight holes. He had birdie putts on all of them. Finishing two holes outside the playoff, he likely spent Sunday night rueing a few of them. Still, after a slow start to 2025, Bhatia now has three straight top-10s, two of them in Signature Events.

Tom Hoge
With a poor end to 2024 and a poor start to 2025, Hoge had fallen well outside the top 50 in the world to No. 73. This tie for third was his best showing since a similar showing at the Travelers last June. Hoge ranked second in the field in Strokes Gained: Approach and did everything else well enough to wind up on the first page of the leaderboard. Hoge has made seven straight PLAYERS cuts, tops on Tour.

Corey Conners
A week after tying for third at Bay Hill, Conners tied for sixth. The key to both his weeks was putting -- he ranked 21st in the field at THE PLAYERS. As is usually the case with the ball striker extraordinaire, Conners will go as far as his putter will take him. Ranking 87th on Tour in SG: Putting may not sound great, but for Conners it's fantastic. He will play the Valspar this week and, if the putting continues, could very well be in contention again.

Bud Cauley
Cauley's story was well chronicled on a weekend spent on the first page of the leaderboard. He was never the same after a car accident a decade ago. But this tie for sixth on his 35th birthday in one of the biggest tournaments of the year means he fulfilled the terms of his major medical extension and will be exempt the rest of 2025. This was only his fourth start of the year and, while he had made all three cuts, this doesn't necessarily indicate that Cauley will be fantasy-viable going forward. That includes this week at the Valspar.

Danny Walker
One of the last players in the field as second alternate, the 29-year-old Korn Ferry grad made just his seventh career start on the PGA Tour. And a lucky 7 it was. Walker tied for sixth, giving him a second top-25 in 2025 and a fourth straight made cut. He'll be playing this week at the Valspar. Fun fact: Walker attended last year's PLAYERS as a fan.

Robert MacIntyre
After a tie for sixth at Phoenix, a tie for 11th at the Arnold Palmer, MacIntyre has added a solo ninth at THE PLAYERS. It's not out of the question that a still-improving player with a sound all-around game could contend at one or more majors, and not just the Open Championship.

Collin Morikawa
A week after losing late to Russell Henley at Bay Hill, then skipping talking to reporters afterward only to be put in the spotlight upon arrival at Sawgrass, Morikawa tied for 10th. That's also a good way to avoid having to talk to reporters. Seriously, it was a decent week in a year that already has been quite successful other than the winning part. Being winless since late 2023 does not indicate that schneid will be ending. Being "due" in sports is a common phrase that really has no basis in fact. Yet it sure seems as if Morikawa is close.

Davis Thompson
Thompson tied for 10th, which followed two missed cuts, which followed a tie for 13th at the Genesis. Thompson is roughly a top-50 player, maybe a little better. So we should expect similar ups and downs, especially as he's still a young player.

Patrick Cantlay
Another week, another seemingly good showing for Cantlay. He tied for 12th, which will improve a world ranking that had slipped to No. 17. Cantlay previously has had two top-fives and a top-15 this season, giving the appearance that he's playing well. And he is. But he used to be No. 3 in the world and win tournaments, which he hasn't done in almost three years.

Scottie Scheffler
Maybe it's now time to be concerned about Scheffler. He tied for 20th, his fifth top-25 in five starts. Good for most, terrible for the overwhelming world No. 1. Scheffler did not finish in the top-10 in any strokes-gained category in THE PLAYERS field, not even Approach, at which he ranked 16th. His DFS price has not yet been affected, though his odds slipped a bit for THE PLAYERS from 3-1 to 4-1. It'll be interesting to see where the oddsmakers put him next time out.

Keegan Bradley
Bradley tied for 20th for his fifth top-25 already this season. Also, on Sunday he aced the 153-yard 13th hole for his second hole-in-one already this season.

Russell Henley
A week after winning the biggest tournament of his life, Henley predictably had a letdown and was a non-factor. But whereas some guys would've missed the cut, Henley made it, closed with a 69 for his best round of the week and tied for 30th.

Justin Thomas
Thomas was quite the thrill ride at Sawgrass. He opened with a 78 to get in danger of missing the cut. On Friday he shot a 62 to get in contention for his second PLAYERS win. But on the weekend he flat-lined with twin 73s to tie for 33rd. Thomas will be one of the favorites this week at the Valspar.

Jordan Spieth
Spieth tied for 59th, getting worse every day till a closing 78. He's had two top-10s in 2025 but four subpar outings. And maybe that will be the norm going forward for Spieth, now 31. But he still will be one of the top draws this week at the Valspar.

Sungjae Im
Im made the cut but shot three rounds of 76 (and one of 66) and tied for 59th. After three top-10s in January, he's now amid a bad stretch. In his past six tournaments Im has had just one top-15 – a tie for 19th at Bay Hill.

Xander Schauffele
Schauffele made the cut rather easily. But he fell apart on the weekend, shooting 78-81 (ouch). It's a little hard to determine whether the rib injury that cost him two months is at issue. We should find out more this week when he plays the Valspar.

MISSED CUTS

Ludvig Aberg, Hideki Matsuyama, Tony Finau, Viktor Hovland, Max Homa, Matt Fitzpatrick, Michael Kim, Laurie Canter, Wyndham Clark. Some of these are the usual suspects or turning into the usual suspects: Hovland and Homa and maybe Fitzpatrick. … Aberg and Matsuyama are surprises but nothing more than one-week surprises. … Kim still has time to get into the top-50 to qualify for the Masters next month; he's in the Valspar field. … Canter was the first former LIV player to get into a PGA Tour event and he missed the cut on the number. … Amid a down season, Clark withdrew Friday with a neck injury.