J.J. Spaun pauses press conference to see his water ball on hole 17 in The Players Championship playoff

J.J. Spaun briefly paused his interview with TPC Sawgrass to rematch his water ball shot, which decided his fate for the Players Championship on Monday morning. Spaun had to return to the course to take on Rory McIlroy in a three-hole playoff but things didn't really go the he would have wanted.

On the first playoff hole, it was light work for McIlroy as he made a birdie on the Par 5 16th, while Spaun made a par.

In Spaun's post-match press conference with the media, he halted the engagement to briefly watch his tee shot, which ended up in the water. He shared some commentary regarding his play while it was showing on television in the press room.

“Can I watch it? I haven’t seen it,” Spaun said, stopping himself in the middle of an answer to watch his shot.

“Look how high it is. It’s floating,” he offered in commentary. “I almost wanted to say ‘get up’ because it just looked like it was going to be short.” Turning back to his audience, J.J. Spaun added, “Anyways, I was stunned. I couldn’t believe it was long.”

J.J. Spaun wasn't at his best on the day and facing a strong opponent like Rory McIlroy, all he needed was to tick the right boxes against the Northern Irish golfer. Even though he placed second behind McIlroy at the Players Championship, his encouraging performance all throughout the competition should hold him in good stead for the remainder of the season.

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J.J. Spaun’s brave challenge falls short as Rory McIlroy clinches second Players title

While Rory McIlroy clinches his second Players Championship title, Spaun is picking up the pieces for putting himself in contention in the last few days and going toe to toe after the thunderstorms disrupted play on Sunday.

But after returning to the course on Monday with the conditions set right, McIlroy was poised to keep it clean and avoid mistakes from the previous day which gave Spaun the green light to force his way into the first playoff of his career.

“A lot of positives this week to take from. Next maybe it will go in my favor," Spaun said.

Spaun is currently ranked 25th in the world with an average points of 2.800 (52).

Below is the top 10 at The Players Championship 2025: Final-round scores at TPC Sawgrass

Pos. Player Score R1 R2 R3 R4

• 1 R. McIlroy -12 67 68 73 68
• 2 J.J. Spaun -12 66 68 70 72
• T3 L. Glover -10 66 70 71 71
• T3 T. Hoge -10 71 70 71 66
• T3 A. Bhatia -10 67 66 75 70
• T6 B. Cauley -9 68 71 66 74
• T6 C. Conners -9 71 71 66 71
• T6 D. Walker -9 73 70 66 70
• 9 R. Macintyre -8 69 70 72 69
• T10 C. Morikawa -7 70 65 77 69