Rory McIlroy's Players Championship adversary J. J. Spaun seemingly took a glance into the Holywood golfers bag before his tee shot on 17 ended up in the water - all but handing the 35-year-old his second TPC sawgrass title. McIlroy and Spaun played remarkable golf over several days in Florida. By Sunday night, Spaun was tied with the four-time major champion McIlroy at -12, instigating the first playoff at the Players since 2015. Facing challenging gusts of wind at TPC Sawgrass, different from the weekend conditions, the duo squared off over three holes on Monday: the 16th, the notoriously difficult 17th, and the 18th. With McIlroy setting a high standard and mustering birdie on the 16th while Spaun made par, attention turned to the nerve-wracking 17th, where the Northern Irishman delivered a solid shot onto the green. However, moments after stealing a look at McIlroy's choice of club, Spaun's shot faltered, plunging into the water and ceding near-certain victory to McIlroy amidst misguided club selection. Commentator and Irish pro Paul McGinley remarked on Sky Sports Golf as the drama unfolded on the 17th: "Well, well, well, I know McIlroy hit a three-quarter shot there. I don't know if that helped looking in McIlroy's bag there to see what club he hit there. "He is a big hitter, but he's very good at taking loads of club and just chipping it. If you just look at what he did, he took a lot of speed out that swing did McIlroy and Spaun thought he hit a good shot but quite clearly the wrong club." Ewen Murray, his colleague, commented: "Little glance into the bag of McIlroy, perhaps not the best idea at the time. You only control what you do." Spaun was leading solo into the final round of the Players on Sunday but soon lost the lead to competitors, particularly McIlroy, who opened up a three-shot lead following a storm delay lasting four hours, reports the Express. However, McIlroy's back nine saw downturns in performance, whilst American challenger, 34-year-old Spaun, closed in. Despite Spaun's birdie attempt on the 18th from 30 feet for the championship and a hefty £3.5million prize slightly falling short, a playoff ensued. The playoff turned out somewhat subdued, though, with McIlroy gaining the upper hand after an impressive approach on the 16th. Despite missing the fairway on the 18th, McIlroy managed to maintain a three-stroke gap and sealed his second Players title - his first coming in 2019 - with a successful putt. Although commentators hinted that Spaun's mimicry of McIlroy's playbook on the gruelling 17th hole led to his downfall, a sympathetic McIlroy chalked it up to misfortune as he looked back at Spaun's wayward approach. "I feel bad for JJ, he hit a really good shot on 17, and it just went straight through the wind," stated McIlroy. "Unbelievably proud and happy to win my second Players Championship and my third time winning on St Patrick's Day, so it's been good luck for me! I've worked really hard, and I feel like I'm a way more complete player than I was a few years ago."