Whatever the 2022 Players Championship has lacked in drama over the last few days, it appears to be making up for it with its Monday finish, where nearly two dozen players remained within striking distance as the leaders made the turn in the final round.
So what happens if there’s a tie at the end of regulation? The answer: a playoff would commence for the biggest winner’s check in the game. While golf fans would salivate at the idea of the tournament’s former playoff format, a sudden-death showcase on No. 17, in 2014, the new format became a three-hole aggregate. So players would head back out to play Nos. 16-18, with the lowest cumulative score taking the title.
If the players remain tied after the three-hole aggregate, sudden death reemerges, starting on No. 17, then moving to No. 18, 16, 17, and back to 18 until a winner is finally crowned.
The 17th and 18th holes have been playing especially tough this weekend, and all three aggregate holes include dangerous water and risk-reward opportunities: potential eagle at the reachable par-5 16th, potential disaster at the iconic par-3 17th, and trouble seemingly everywhere on the grueling 18th.
There has only been one playoff under the most recent format: Rickie Fowler’s win in 2015, when he memorably defeated Sergio Garcia and Kevin Kisner to claim the biggest victory of his career. Kisner and Fowler were tied after the aggregate holes, and Fowler birdied the 17th in sudden death to dispatch Kisner.
