The Players Championship not only features one of the most interesting golf courses in the sport — but it also boasts a unique playoff format that highlights three of its most exciting holes.
And we’ll see it on full display come Monday.
Rory McIlroy and J.J. Spaun finished the final round of Sunday’s Players tied at 12 under, so they’ll head back to TPC Sawgrass for a 9 a.m. ET playoff on Monday.
All four of golf’s majors have a different playoff format: The Masters is sudden death, the U.S. Open uses a two-hole aggregate, the PGA Championship a three-hole aggregate and the Open Championship a four-hole aggregate.
The Players, the marquee event on the PGA Tour, uses the three-hole aggregate playoff, which it changed to in 2014. They play the par-5 16th, par-3 17th and par-4 18th. After that, if extra holes are still needed, sudden death awaits, with players going to 17, 18 and then 16, and back through the order again, until a winner is decided.
Before this year, the tournament has only needed a playoff five times in its history, but only one of those was with the new aggregate system. That happened, quite famously, in 2015, when Rickie Fowler beat Sergio Garcia and Kevin Kisner.
Fowler and Kisner both went par-birdie-par, but Garcia made three pars and was eliminated. In sudden death and playing the iconic par-3 17th, Fowler made birdie to Kisner’s par to claim the biggest victory of his career.
The playoff format at TPC Sawgrass’ Stadium Course leaves plenty of opportunity for drama. The 16th is a reachable par-5 so eagle is in play, although there’s water lining the entire right side. The 17th is one of the most famous holes in golf, and the 18th, with water lining the entire left side, requires a precise drive and approach.
