Players Championship week might be more powerful than the week of any major championship. Can you say, competition shut down? When all the world’s professional golf tours go lights-out and radio silent, that’s saying something. The DPWT, LPGA, Korn Ferry, and PGA Tour Champions all passed on the third weekend in March, out of deference to the electric event, held annually at Pete’s Place in Sawgrass.

The 2025 rendering of the Players Championship had a bit of every seasoning from the pro golf spice rack. We’re going to take a look at each day’s results and unique elements, in this week’s Tour Rundown. We hope that you enjoy this look back at March 13-16, 2025, at The Players Championship. Let’s get started with some heroism from Captain America, Keegan Bradley.

Thursday: Two set the pace at minus-six

Low Rounds: 66, from JJ Spaun, Lucas Glover, and Camilo Villegas

• JJ Spaun feels more like a two-win guy than a solo artist. He picked up a win in Texas, in 2022, and has been in the mix on many occasions, ever since. This arena is different, however. Not saying he won’t, but it’s tougher.
• Villegas suffered the unthinkable, when he and his wife lost their young daughter to cancer. The Colombian powerhouse won in Bermuda in 2023, after a nine-year hiatus from the winner’s platform. We know that he can win at the nearly-major level, but at age 43, it would have taken all the mental and physical fitness to get it done, and Villegas could not summon both over the final three rounds.
• Glover had a dry spell from 2011 to 2021, then nearly made the USA Ryder Cup side in 2023, when he won two playoff events. His game is built for top-fifteen finishes, and odds were in his favor for another in St. Augustine.

High Rounds: 80, from Viktor Hovland and Nick Dunlap

• Hovland has expressed the frustrating state of his current game, and he showed no signs of exiting that status on Friday. Viktor teed off on the inward half, and began with consecutive bogeys. He turned in 39, then had a triple-doble sequence at holes five and six, to effectively end his week, just as it began. Admirably, he bounced back on Friday with 68, but missed the cut by five shots.
• Dunlap had an agonizing first round on Thursday. He endured the golf equivalent to death by a thousand, tiny cuts. Half of his holes were completed in bogey figures, and he found but one birdie on the day, at the 16th hole. Dunlap uncovered four birdies on friday, but needed twice that many and zero mistakes. He posted 74 on Friday to finish among the five worst over two days.

While Spaun, Glover, and Villegas held the lead after 18 holes, none of the three was a betting favorite in Vegas or on line. Rory McIlroy, Akshay Bhatia, and Min Woo Lee were one shot back, and each had more interest from the the wagerers. McIlroy’s track record is indisputable, and both Bhatia and Lee are ready to move to the big-win level. Billy Horschel also posted minus-five on Thursday.

Friday: 16-stroke improvement highlights day two

Low Round: 62, from Justin Thomas

• Kudos to a fellow who plays Sawgrass nearly a stroke per hole better than the day before. JT won’t win this year, but one would think that such a triumph over mental and spiritual adversity, resulting in a made cut, should reap a fruitful harvest, down the road.

High Round: 81, from Maverick McNealy

• The middle of the round wasn’t kind to the winner of last fall’s RSM Classic. One under on the day at the sixth tee, McNealy posted two doubles and four single on his subsequent sextet of holes. McNealy went from cut line to missed cut in a bit over an hour, but Pete’s Peril will do that to even the best golfers.

Spaun followed his 66 with a 68, but it was Bhatia who moved into the lead at 133. Moving into the top five was Collin Morikawa, runner-up last week at Bay Hill. His 65 brought him to 135, two back of the leader. Alex Smalley and McIlroy moved to the same number as Morikawa, with Glover and Tommy Fleetwood one behind, at 136. Bidding farewell to their cohort were more than a few surprising names. Hideki Matsuyama, Adam Scott, Ludvig Aberg, Max Homa, and Matt Fitzpatrick went to the sidelines as the field reduced to 72 names.

Saturday: Just call me JJ

Low Rounds: 66, from Bud Caulery, Corey Connors, and Danny Walker

• Danny Walker and Corey Connors teed off among the first seven times, before the greens spike up and the winds came.
• Credit to local boy Bud Cauley, whose 66 came off a 12:15 tee time, among the final 15 pairings.

High Rounds: 85, from Emiliano Grillo

• Grillo opened with 68-70, well inside the cut line and another 70 from top-five after day three. Instead, the Platense finds himself at the bottom of the tournament, after a maddening round of golf. Zero birdies and an insufferable stretch of +8, from holes four through eight.
• A chunked approach on four led to a double, and a series of unfortunate pitch shots and putts brought triple at number five.

JJ Spaun reclaimed the lead on a horrendous day for golf. Nearly as many players (five) posted rounds in the 80s, as did (seven) in the 60s. Players like Bud Cauley and Corey Conners signed for 66, and shot meteorically up the leaders’ board. Falling away were Morikawa (77), Fleetwood (75), and Min Woo (78.)

Sunday: And then, came the rains, and then, came the playoff

Low Rounds: 66, from Tom Hoge, Rico Hoey, and Kurt Kitayama

• Hoey and Kitayama started well off the pace of the leader, and their 66s vaulted them from way, way back (60s) to the top 35. If you’re going to do it some week, make-bank week is a good one!
• Hoge’s minus-six was a much more impressive feat. He began the day in the top twenty-five, which meant that he endured the three-hour rain delay that the other, low-goers did not. Hoge had seven birdies on the day, with his sole blip a bogey on the 11th.

High Round: 81, from Xander Schauffele

• The two-time, major winner in 2025 returned from a medical hiatus last week. Bay Hill and Sawgrass did not provide a gentle handshake, but Schauffele managed to make the cut in each. His lack of playing shape was evident at both sites, as he twice struggled on day four.
• On Sunday, Schauffele posted one triple, two doubles, and four bogeys. He did have a pair of birdies on a forgettable day, and will look to continue his rehab tour in the near future.

Tom Hoge finished in a three-way tie with Akshay Bhatia and Lucas Glover, at minus-ten. Their efforts earned them the bronze medal this week. After Rory McIlroy got up and down at 18 for par, and JJ Spaun’s birdie effort came up two agonizing inches short, the two at minus-twelve were given a 9 am tee time, for a three-hole, aggregate playoff. The Players went to the three-hole format in 2014, and in 2015, Rickie Fowler defeated Kevin Kisner for our only look at the structure.

On Monday morning, McIlroy took a one-shot advantage with birdie at the 16th hole, the first of the three-hole aggregate playoff. The island 17th decided the winner, for practical purposes. McIlroy found the green, while JJ Spaun was long and wet with his tee ball. From the drop zone, he found the fringe, but was unable to get up and down for five. His triple-bogey six gave McIlroy two more shots in hand. When the Northern Irishman found dry land off the 18th tee, matters were settled. Sapun ultimately made double bogey, and McIlroy’s bogey at the last green secured a second Players Championship.