Fresh off last year’s Monday morning extra-hole showdown between Rory McIlroy and J.J. Spaun at TPC Sawgrass, it seems only right to refresh our memories about what happens should the Players Championship end in a tie after 72 holes. Particularly given how it differs from the playoff format.
Last year’s playoff was just the sixth in Players Championship history and the first since 2015. Here are the results
1981: Raymond Floyd def. Barry Jaeckel, Curtis Strange with par on first extra hole (Sawgrass CC)
1987: Sandy Lyle def. Jeff Sluman with par on third extra hole, No. 18
2008: Sergio Garcia def. Paul Goydos with par on first extra hole, No. 17
2011: K.J. Choi def. David Toms with a par on first extra hole, No. 17
2015: Rickie Fowler defeats Sergio Garcia and Kevin Kisner
2025: Rory McIlroy defeats J.J. Spaun
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OK, so if there’s a tie after 72 holes at Sawgrass, all players return to the course and play a three-hole aggregate playoff. And those three holes are Sawgrass’ trio of memorable finishing holes: the par-5 16th, par-3 17th and par-4 18th.
If there is still a tie after that, the playoff reverts to sudden death with all those remaining returning again to the 17th hole. Then they would play, No. 16, 17 and 18 in a rotation.
The three-hole format was put into place in 2014. It’s was used that next year to crown Fowler the winner and again for McIlroy’s triumph last March.
Needless to say, as the prospects of a playoff played out on Sunday, with Kisner working in the TV booth for NBC during the broadcast, there was plenty of discussion about what it’s like to play extra holes for the Players title.