Thoughts following the 2025 The PLAYERS Championship

After another weather delay (seemingly a yearly thing now) at The PLAYERS caused a Monday finish, Rory McIlroy is once again a champion at TPC Sawgrass. McIlroy held off J.J. Spaun in a 3-hole playoff on Monday morning to win his 2nd PLAYERS title since 2019 and his 28th PGA Tour title. Below are some thoughts I have on the 2025 PLAYERS.

Justin Thomas's 62

Justin Thomas opened with a 6-over 78 on Thursday and was going to need a terrific round of golf on Friday to make the cut. Thomas would go on to play a more than a terrific round of golf and tie the course record on Friday with a 62. In fact, he stood on the 18th tee needing just a par to set the course record but bogeyed 18 after his 2nd shot ended up in the water. 

At one point on Friday afternoon I was questioning if he was capable of hitting a bad shot. It felt like every shot ended where he wanted it to until his tee shot on 18. The thing with Thomas is that he’s capable of doing that...a lot. According to Justin Ray, one of the best stat guys in golf, Thomas has the most rounds of 62 or better on the PGA Tour in the last 40 years with 13. 

Seeing his capability of playing so well so often really makes me wonder how he hasn’t won more recently. Yes, he's also put up some really high numbers, but they're not happening as frequently. He’s won just three times since the PGA Tour returned from the COVID-19 shutdown in 2020. Sure, two of the wins were a PLAYERS win and a PGA Championship, but it certainly feels like someone with his talent should be winning a lot more often.

 The Latest Jordan Spieth Experience

Jordan Spieth is known for having scorecards that don’t include many pars on them and Thursday’s front-9 (he started on 10 so it was on the back-9 of the course) was one of them. A birdie-eagle start was followed by two pars, but those were the only two pars he ended with on the 9. He would close his front by going double bogey-bogey-eagle-bogey-birdie. That is just the latest version of the Jordan Spieth experience. You want to be entirely stressed out by a round of golf that isn’t yours? Become a fan of Jordan Spieth.

J.J. Spaun’s Playoff Performance

I am certainly not one to compare what I’m doing to a professional golfer. The wind on Monday was howling and the course was, obviously, playing tough in tournament conditions. That being said, Spaun’s playoff felt a lot like a round of golf I’d play. In a greenside bunker on 16? Chunk it out. Water surrounding the hole on a par-3? Miss the green and put it in the water. Your opponent misses the fairway right on 18? Miss it ever further right.

Spaun, a one-time winner on the PGA Tour, had to try and take down McIlroy, a 27-time winner (now 28) on the PGA Tour who has also already won at TPC Sawgrass. That was never going to be an easy task and it showed on Monday with his performance.

Rory's Interesting Week at TPC Sawgrass

The week got off to an interesting start for McIlroy when he walked off with a fan's phone after the fan’s friend chirped him from the crowd during a practice round. McIlroy would obviously go on to win, which helps show how much of a compelling story McIlroy continues to be. Like him or hate him he is always going to be there on the course and (somewhat in this case) off the course.

When I looked at the leaderboard on Saturday night I knew that he was going to end up on top at the end of it all. Did he make it interesting? Yes. But am I stunned that he won his second PLAYERS title? Nope. 

Now the biggest question for the next month will be....can he FINALLY complete the career Grand Slam at Augusta National in April?

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