Rory McIlroy took home his second career PLAYERS Championship win in a playoff showdown against J.J. Spaun at TPC Sawgrass this past Monday. In a weekend of bad weather and difficult conditions, Rory proved his skill and strategic finesse in an extremely challenging three hole playoff to cap it off.
The victory didn’t come easy for McIlroy, who admitted his nerves prior to the dramatic three hole playoff to take home the tournament win after he couldn’t finish the job on Sunday.
Despite the win taking longer than he wanted, it proves McIlroy’s dominance and growth this PGA season, with him sitting atop the FedEx Cup rankings. The adverse conditions with both rain and wind playing a big factor in play this tournament shows Rory’s prowess and adaptability, despite he himself admitting he did not have his best stuff this weekend.
For J.J. Spaun, the tough loss still shouldn’t be seen as a disappointment, as his work tying McIlroy on Sunday to force a playoff with one of the sports’ all-time greats is a remarkable achievement, especially in the rainy and windy conditions down in Jacksonville. The former collegiate walk-on will look to continue his positive momentum into golf major season coming up soon.
With The Masters just around the corner being less than a month away, we will see if Rory can finally acquire the green jacket he is missing from his trophy collection, and there is no doubt he should be in contention with the way he is playing golf right now.
