Rory McIlroy celebrated St Patrick's Day in style after beating JJ Spawn in a playoff to become the Players Championship champion for the second time.
McIlroy played a three-hole playoff match, finishing one stroke over par, which was enough to defeat Spawn in a somewhat disappointing finale at TPC Sawgrass.
A two-putt birdie on the par-5 16th hole gave McIlroy a one-shot lead as Spawn could only make par after facing a difficult tee and bunker on his approach.
McIlroy later found the green successfully on the difficult 17th hole, while Spawn appeared to be unsure about his club choice in windy conditions, sending his tee shot over the green and into the water.
A triple bogey saw the American's chances of a second PGA Tour victory all but disappear, although McIlroy surprisingly hit three shots from 30 feet away.
McIlroy also made a bogey on the 18th hole, but Spawn still had 10 feet left for his bogey and did not complete the hole after McIlroy holed out.
After winning the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February, McIlroy recorded his first two PGA Tour victories heading into the Masters.
The world number two needs a win at the first major championship of the year at Augusta National to complete his career Grand Slam.
McIlroy began the final round on Sunday four strokes behind leader Spawn but made birdie in the first round, converting a 10-foot eagle on the par-5 second hole after a superb 230-yard drive.
He also responded to a bogey on the seventh hole with a birdie on the eighth, and another birdie on the par-5 11th hole moved him to 12 under, one stroke ahead of Spawn, before play was suspended due to an approaching storm.
After a four-hour break, McIlroy built a three-shot lead with a birdie on the 12th hole while Spawn made a bogey on the 11th, but the Northern Irishman missed the par on the 14th before Spawn made birdie on the same hole.
Spawn also made birdie on the 16th to get back into the game and nearly win the title in regulation, as his 30-foot birdie attempt on the 18th hole fell just three inches short.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
