Players 2025: J.J. Spaun was playing his way out of contention. Then he got an all-time break thanks to the Rules of Golf

Despite two bogeys in his first eight holes to start the final round of the Players Championship on Sunday, JJ. Spaun held a share of the lead at 11 under as he made his way to the back nine at TPC Sawgrass. Mind you, there was a lot of golf left if the 34-year-old PGA Tour journeyman wanted to upset Rory McIlroy and win the biggest title of his career at TPC Sawgrass—and there still is as the two head to a Monday three-hole aggregate playoff. But there was a time on the ninth hole during the final round where Spaun could have played his way out of the tournament, only to find a way to use the Rules of Golf to his advantage and keep his momentum going.

Here’s how it played out: Spaun was trying to hit a layup with his approach shot on the 592-yard par 5, but saw the ball fade toward the thick rough. It took a hop and then settled down, eventually disappearing in the long grass.

“A horrible lie,” was how Jim "Bones" Mackay described what Spaun was left during NBC's final-round broadcast, Spaun was still 45 yards from the hole for his third shot.

Here's a picture of the ball hopping right before it nestles into the rough.

However, you might be able to see in the picture a sprinkler head near Spaun's ball. As it turned out, Spaun’s feet were touching that sprinkler head, which is defined as an immovable obstruction. That allowed Spaun to take free relief under Rule 16.1. So Spaun found his nearest point of full relief, and then measured out one club-length from there to create his drop zone, his ball still set to land in the thick rough.

Yet as luck would have it, there was a two other sprinkler heads within his relief area, one of which was near where Spaun would take his first drop. Given this, Spaun asked rules official Mike Peterson whether if he dropped the ball on the sprinkler head, could he then get relief from the second head? The answer, as was confirmed later in the afternoon by PGA Tour chief referee Mark Dusbabek, was yes. So Spaun dropped his ball on the sprinkler head. When it came to rest there, Spaun was then entitled to free relief once more. And this time, when he followed the procedures under the Rules, it allowed him to be able to take a drop in the fairway rather than the rough.

“He intentionally dropped it in the sprinkler, got himself a second club-length away from that and got into the fairway,” was how Mackay described it on the broadcast.

Just to be clear: What Spaun did was all by the book according to Rule 16.1 and again reiterated by Dusbabek later in the NBC broadcast. It’s one of the quirks of the Rules, and something players can wisely use to their advantage under just such circumstances. Spaun even got to place his ball on the edge of the fairway because when he took his drop, the ball twice rolled outside the one club-length max. "So it’s a great break and a great question JJ asked Mike," said Dusbabek.

From there, Spaun hit a nifty wedge to six feet of the cup, then rolled in the birdie putt to jump to 11 under and tie McIlroy.

“A tremendous break,” uttered Brad Faxon on the broadcast as they continued to marvel at Spaun's good fortune.

One that just might lead to victory come Monday morning.