St Patrick’s Day delight for Rory McIlroy as he seals Players Championship after play-off

Northern Irishman wins play-off to clinch title for second time in his career

Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, after winning the play-off at The Players Championship. AP

Rory McIlroy celebrated St Patrick’s Day in style by defeating JJ Spaun in a play-off to win the prestigious Players Championship for the second time.

McIlroy had finished tied at the top of the leader board with Spaun following Sunday's storm-hit final round after failing to hold on to a three-shot lead with five holes to play.

But after returning to the course on Monday in bright, breezy conditions, there was no sign of a repeat of the late stumble that had allowed Spaun to force his way into the first play-off of his career.

McIlroy covered the three-hole aggregate play-off in one over par, but that was comfortably enough to beat Spaun in a somewhat anticlimactic finish at TPC Sawgrass.

A two-putt birdie on the par-five 16th gave McIlroy a one-shot advantage after Spaun could only make par after finding rough off the tee and a bunker with his approach.

McIlroy then safely found the green on the treacherous 17th before Spaun, who looked unsure of his club selection in the windy conditions, flew his tee shot over the green into the water.

The resulting triple bogey effectively ended the American’s chances of a second PGA Tour victory, even though McIlroy surprisingly three-putted from 30 feet.

McIlroy also bogeyed the 18th but Spaun still had 10 feet left for his own bogey and did not complete the hole after McIlroy tapped in.

Following his victory in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February, it means McIlroy has won twice on the PGA Tour before the Masters for the first time in his career.

“I'm really proud of my body of work. I turned pro in 2007 and my first season on the PGA Tour was in 2009. I've tried to get better every year and I feel like I'm continuing trying to do that,” said McIlroy.

“The younger guys coming out are getting better every single year and I need to keep working hard to hang with them. I'm doing a pretty good job of that. I feel like I've still got a few years left in the tank.

“I did it a different way this week,” he added. “I had to putt well. I needed to chip well. I saw way too much of the pine straw.

“But I feel if one part of my game isn't there, I have other parts to bail me out and it's a really nice feeling to have that in my golf game.”

The world No 2 needs a victory in the year’s first major championship at Augusta National to complete the career grand slam.

McIlroy had started Sunday’s final round four shots behind overnight leader Spaun, but followed a birdie on the first with an eagle from 10 feet on the par-five second after a superb long-iron approach from 230 yards.

He also responded to a bogey on the seventh with a birdie on the eighth and another birdie on the par-five 11th took him to 12 under, a shot ahead of Spaun, before play was suspended due to an approaching storm.

Following a four-hour delay, McIlroy established a three-shot lead after he birdied the 12th as Spaun dropped a shot on the 11th, but the Northern Irishman bogeyed the 14th before Spaun birdied the same hole.

Spaun also birdied the 16th to get back on level terms and almost won the title in regulation as his birdie attempt from 30 feet on the 18th pulled up just three inches short.