As playoffs go, particularly those of the weather-delayed, three-hole variety, Rory McIlroy’s quick takedown of J.J. Spaun Monday morning to win the Players Championship was about as anticlimactic as they come.
Three windblown holes, one critical mistake by Spaun on the frightening par-3 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass and the deed was done.
The result was what many anticipated, McIlroy winning his 28th PGA Tour title and his second Players, suggesting that perhaps Scottie Scheffler’s place atop the world ranking is – at least momentarily – a function of the process more than the immediate eyeball test.
That said, Scheffler has been so good he is judged against himself more than against others. He hasn’t finished outside the top 25 in five starts this season but because he hasn’t won and has not been super sharp, Scheffler showed some frustration at the Players Championship.
Fear not, though. The week a few putts drop, Scheffler will look as imposing as ever.
As for McIlroy, he is in full flight again, his victory at the Stadium Course reinforcing his ability to win at a place that doesn’t on the surface fit his style. However, at age 35, McIlroy has demonstrated the ability to fit his game to the setting and, as was the case Sunday and Monday, handle extreme conditions.
There have been big moments when bad weather seemed to rattle McIlroy, but he leaned into the wind and the final-round disruption, shaking off the disappointment of not finishing off the victory on Sunday and channeling it into what he did Monday morning.
McIlroy knew he was expected to win the playoff because of who he is and because Spaun, whose recognition and respect factor rose dramatically with how he handled himself, had never been in a situation like he found himself at the Players.
“I’m expected to win,” McIlroy said Monday. “That brings its own pressure in some way.”
“People say pressure is a privilege, and it really is. You want to feel like that on the course. That’s why I spend the time that I do practicing and trying to master my craft, that you get yourself in those positions to see what you’re made of.” – Rory McIlroy
McIlroy had a three-stroke lead with six holes remaining Sunday but he left the Stadium Course after sundown facing a three-hole duel with Spaun. McIlroy ordered some room service, watched part of the movie “The Devil Wears Prada” and did his best to get some sleep.
He awoke at 3 a.m., couldn’t go back to sleep and eventually went to the course early feeling a nervousness that spoke to the opportunity awaiting him.
“People say pressure is a privilege, and it really is. You want to feel like that on the course. That’s why I spend the time that I do practicing and trying to master my craft, that you get yourself in those positions to see what you’re made of,” McIlroy said.
McIlroy got his answer with his first swing of the day when he ripped a driver into a cold, hammering wind, finding the middle of the fairway on the par-5 16th, setting up an eventual birdie. The tee shot did two things – it helped settle McIlroy, who missed more fairways than he hit over the course of 75 holes, and it put the onus on Spaun, who fell one stroke behind with a par of the first playoff hole.
In winning the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am earlier this year, McIlroy made a point of saying he wants to play more like Scheffler, who relies on his discipline to accentuate his extraordinary ball-striking, thereby limiting the potential mistakes.
McIlroy applied that at the Stadium Course but he also knows his driver can be his ultimate weapon and he used it to set the tone in the playoff and perhaps beyond.
“Standing over that tee shot on 16 this morning is the most nervous I’ve been in a long time,” McIlroy said.
“So I think that will stand to me, feeling like that and being able to hit the golf shots that I need while your stomach is sort of not feeling great and your legs are a little shaky and your heart rate is racing.”
Hitting a driver like that is what comes naturally to McIlroy. What he did moments later – hitting a flighted, three-quarter 9-iron shot into the wind and onto the green at the infamous par-3 17th – was golf art at its finest.
The countdown to the Masters is on. McIlroy expects to make one more start before Augusta – most likely the Valero Texas Open – and then he will try again to win the one major championship that has so far eluded him.
Spaun hit the shot there he imagined overnight, but his 8-iron seemed to ignore the wind and landed in the water over the green, sinking his chances.
McIlroy’s weakness, such as it is, has been his inconsistency on shorter shots, particularly getting wedges close after using his power to gain an advantage. The shot he hit to the 17th green on Monday morning required commitment, technique and rare talent.
He mentioned the second round at the Masters last year when the wind gusted and McIlroy fell out of contention with a 77.
“I maybe didn’t have all the shots that were required to go out and shoot something under par that day,” McIlroy said.
“When the conditions come like that, I just feel like I’m a lot better prepared to handle them.”
The countdown to the Masters is on. McIlroy expects to make one more start before Augusta – most likely the Valero Texas Open – and then he will try again to win the one major championship that has so far eluded him.
There will be no escaping the conversation and conjecture about what’s coming. McIlroy has won at Pebble Beach and at the Stadium Course so far this year and he intends to keep doing what he’s been doing.
“You put the work in and you do the right things, you’re able to do some pretty cool stuff,” McIlroy said.