Around the links: The Players Championship and TGL Playoffs

Monday morning championship golf followed by even more playoff golf later that night? What more could a fan ask for? That’s just the tip of the iceberg from the last few days of professional golf.

The Players Championship started on Thursday at the beautiful TPC Sawgrass. After day one, Lucas Glover, J.J. Spaun and Camilo Villegas were all tied for the lead at 6-under par, but by day two, Min Woo Lee and Akshay Bhatia shared the lead at 11-under.

By the end of the day on Saturday, there was a different leader, as Spaun took the solo lead at 12-under on the tournament, battling the rough wind conditions to finish the day with a two-under 70. Each day, there was one constant on the leaderboard: Rory McIlroy.

McIlroy finished Thursday tied for second at 5-under and tied for fourth on Friday, but the windy conditions got the best of him on Saturday, posting a 1-over 73 to put him at 8-under to end the day.

Then, McIlroy came out firing on championship Sunday. He opened his round with a birdie to put him back at 9-under, where he finished on Friday. On the second hole, he stayed hot with an eagle on the par-5, putting him one back of the lead from Spaun.

Spaun then bogeyed the fifth, leaving them tied for the lead. McIlroy bogeyed the seventh and then birdied the eighth, while Spaun bogeyed the eighth and then birdied the ninth, yet again resulting in a tie heading into the back nine.

Both men finished the back nine with just one more birdie than bogey, meaning they both finished at 12-under. A tie after 18 holes means only one thing: a three-hole playoff. The only problem?

Tee times were pushed ahead on Sunday because of impending weather conditions. That didn’t end up helping, as the rain still hit and caused a long delay. By the time McIlroy and Spaun finished their round on Sunday, the sun was already setting, meaning the playoff had to wait until Monday morning.

The playoff began at one of the most iconic stretches of golf holes, starting at the par-5 16th hole. McIlroy birdied while Spaun finished with par, giving McIlroy the first advantage.

Then, on the iconic 17th hole, McIlroy found the green safely with a masterful nine-iron shot, and Spaun found water. Spaun then made it to the green after a drop and finished the hole with a triple bogey, while McIlroy finished with a bogey on the hole, giving him the lead by three going into the 18th.

McIlroy bogeyed the 18th, but that didn’t matter, as he won The Players Championship this year, his second win of the season. Getting a win at a tournament of this magnitude should give McIlroy momentum going into The Masters in a few weeks, which is the only major he hasn’t won.

Golf fans got even more action on Monday night, as the TGL Playoffs began with the third-seeded New York Golf Club versus the top-seeded LA Golf Club. It was clear that it was playoff time, as the intensity was unmatched. There was less trash talk: it was all business from the start.

Both teams traded blows right away, with LA taking the first hole and New York taking the second. New York then took the lead on the fourth, then LA fired right back on the fifth, giving shades of Spaun and McIlroy on Sunday with the back and forth.

New York took a 3-2 lead into halftime after winning the eighth hole and put the foot on the gas pedal right out of half after Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffle won the first two holes of singles play.

Sahith Theegala took hole 13 for LA, making the score 5-3 until Schauffle won his second hole of the back nine, making it 6-4. With a chance to cut the lead to one with two to play, Tommy Fleetwood missed a five-foot putt, which ended the match, giving New York the win and a spot in TGL’s Championship.

On Tuesday night, the other championship spot was up for grabs between the three-seed Atlanta Drive and two-seed The Bay Golf Club. The match was tied 2-2 through the first seven holes until Atlanta took holes eight and nine to go up 4-2 into halftime.

After that, Atlanta continued to storm on, winning three of the next four holes, one of which was worth three points after both teams threw the hammer. The three-point hole ended up being the dagger, with Atlanta winning 9-3.

TGL’s Championship will take place next week on both Monday and Tuesday in a best-of-three series between New York and Atlanta. The Valspar Championship began today, and at the end of day one, five golfers tied for the lead at 4-under. The tournament will conclude on Sunday, leaving just a few weeks until The Masters.

Dylan Sechrist is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email dks5749@psu.edu.