THE Northern Irishman secured his second players championship title on St Patrick’s day, defating JJ Spaun in a play-off.
The victory sets Mcllroy up perfectly for next months Masters at Augusta- the only major he has yet to win in his illustrious career.
Mcllroy remained composed during his three hole play-off, as his American opponent overhit his shot on the infamous 17th island green hole at TPC sawgrass to secure a second Players Championship.
The Current world number two entered himself into a elite group of golfers to have won both multiple majors and Players Championships -The only others to do so are Scottie Scheffler, Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus. It’s also the first time the 35-year old has won twice in a calendar year before The Masters.
Mcllory feels that his game is in a really good place at the moment ahead of the first major of 2025: “I feel like I’m a better player now than I ever have been, I feel like I can play all conditions and in anything that comes my way.”
“It doesn’t feel like I’m making those mistakes at the critical times like I was previously, I think a big part of that was just learning from those mistakes.”
After securing victory, Mcllory revealed how relieved he was to win in such dramatic circumstances: “Standing over that tee shot on 16 (first play-off hole) is the most nervous I’ve been in a long time,” admitted McIlroy, who revealed he woke up at 3am and could not get back to sleep ahead of the play-off.
“I think that will stand to me, feeling like that and being able to hit the golf shots that I need while your stomach is not feeling great, your legs are a little shaky and your heart-rate is racing. To have to go through that, it’s nice to have that in recent memory for some of the tournaments coming up.”
