Rory McIlroy built a three-shot lead on the back nine at The Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. and unheralded J.J. Spaun didn’t blink. They wound up tied after a four-hour rain delay and had to return today for a playoff to decide who wins the richest tournament in golf.

McIlroy needed two putts from 75 feet on the par-4 18th for a 4-under 68. All he could do was wait in the scoring area on Spaun, the Los Angeles native who had caught up with a marvelous chip on the par-5 16th and stood over a 30-foot putt for the win.

It stopped inches short, giving Spaun a 72 to match McIlroy at 12-under 276.

They did well to finish in regulation before sunset. The Players has a three-hole aggregate playoff on the most dynamic holes on the TPC Sawgrass — the par-5 16th, the island green on the par-3 17th and the daunting par-4 closing hole.

It will be the first Monday finish since Cameron Smith won in 2022 and the first playoff at The Players since Rickie Fowler won 10 years ago.

Tom Hoge had to wait out the four-hole delay with a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th. He returned and missed, posting a 66 and wound up two shots behind. Lucas Glover rallied from a rough front nine for a 71 and joined Hoge and Akshay Bhatia (70).

Bud Cauley, whose thought his career was over from crushing injuries in a 2018 car crash in Ohio, fell back early and steadied himself for a 74. He tied for sixth, giving him more than enough points to fulfill his medical exemption for the rest of the year.

Motorsports

Berry wins in Vegas for first Cup Series victory >> Josh Berry raced to the first Cup Series victory of his career, taking NASCAR’s oldest team to victory lane at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Berry, in his first season driving the famed No. 21 for Wood Brothers Racing, had the first victory for a Ford team through five races this season. William Byron opened the year with a Daytona 500 victory in a Chevrolet and Christopher Bell in a Toyota won the next three races.

Berry, meanwhile, had to run down Daniel Suarez following a restart with 19 laps remaining to take control.

Suarez in a Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing finished second, followed by Ryan Preece in a Ford for RFK Racing. Byron was fourth for Hendrick Motorsports, followed by Ross Chastain of Trackhouse, Austin Cindric of Team Penske and Alex Bowman of Hendrick.

The South Bay’s AJ Allmendinger of Kaulig Racing was eighth and Hendrick drivers Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott rounded out the top 10.

Norris wins wet, wild Australian GP >> McLaren’s Lando Norris has won a chaotic rain-affected Australian Grand Prix, his first at Albert Park, with the Brit just managing to stay ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen following a third safety car late in the season-opening Formula 1 race.

Lewis Hamilton had a miserable Ferrari debut. The seven-time champion finished 10th and was annoyed by constant radio messages from his pit team.

NHL

Avs’ Makar scores 34 seconds into OT >> Cale Makar scored 34 seconds into overtime and Colorado recovered after squandering a late two-goal lead to win 4-3 over the Dallas Stars in the return of former Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen.

Red Wings’ Mrazek shuts out Knights >> Petr Mrazek made 18 saves for his first shutout of the season and the Detroit Red Wings blanked the Vegas Golden Knights 3-0 at home.

Mrazek was making his third start since he was acquired from Chicago at the trade deadline.

Tennis

Andreeva beats No. 1-ranked Sabalenka to win Indian Wells >> Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva came back to beat No. 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells to make the 17-year-old the tournament’s youngest champion since Serena Williams in 1999.

In the men’s final, 13th-seeded Jack Draper of Britain defeated 12th-seeded Holger Rune of Denmark 6-2, 6-2 to earn his first Masters 1000 championship.

Soccer

Newcastle wins English League Cup >> Newcastle ended its 70-year-wait for a major domestic trophy by beating Liverpool 2-1 in the English League Cup final.

Dan Burn and Alexander Isak scored either side of halftime to seal victory at Wembley.

Newcastle’s last major domestic trophy was the FA Cup in 1955 and this was its first piece of silverware since being bought by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund in 2021.