After round 1 of the The Players Championship 2025 the joint leaders were J.J. Spaun, Lucas Glover and Camilo Vegas – with J.J. Spaun and Lucas Glover playing a Srixon golf ball.
After round 2 Min Woo Lee and Akshay Bhatia rocketed up the leaderboard to share the lead – both playing a Callaway golf ball.
Budd Cauley, and his Titleist Pro V1 golf ball, shot a 66 in round 3 to lie second behind J.J. Spaun – heading into the final round.
Due to the poor weather forecasted for the final round, tee times were brought forward and players went out in 3balls off holes 1 and 10. The stormy weather sadly did arrive and play was suspended for just over 4 hours.
When the players eventually came back out Rory McIlroy (who had not been out of the Top 5 all week), with his TaylorMade golf ball, was finally leading after starting round 4 with a birdie and an eagle. With 5 and a half holes to complete it was a dash to complete before darkness descended.
By the time the final group reached the 17th there were two sharing the lead by two shots over the rest – J.J. Spaun and Rory McIlroy. JJ having 2 holes to play and Rory just the final treacherous 18th to complete. It was a battle between the Srixon and TaylorMade golf ball to see who would become The Players winner 2025.
Rory managed his par down 18 with a fantastic 2 putt from long distance and the scene was set for J.J. Spaun’s Srixon golf ball – the drive trickled into the pine straw but a terrific approach shot followed and left a 25 footer for victory. With one more roll J.J. Spaun would have been the champion but with darkness finally descending we were left with tied leaders and a Monday playoff to decide the winner. Check out the playoff rules here.
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It would be fair to say the Playoff sadly did not deliver any drama – with J.J. Spaun’s hopes, literally, sinking on the 17th, when his tee shot found the water and he racked up a 6. Rory closed it out on the 18th and became The Players champion for the second time.
Below shows what the Top 5 players were teeing up and how it changed throughout the week.
Srixon made a strong start to the tournament and ended up being the only ball being played by more than one player in the Top 5. The other major golf ball brands – Titleist, Callaway and TaylorMade – also made the top 5, showing the variety of quality tour balls that are on offer in 2025.
The only surprise being that the standard Titleist 2025 Pro V1 and or Pro V1x did not feature at all – the number 1 balls on Tour.
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Top 5 Golf Balls Used At The Players 2025
1) Rory McIlroy – TaylorMade TP5
Rory has switched to the TaylorMade TP5 for the 2025 season having previously played the TP5x. A switch that took him to victory at Pebble Beach in the AT&T Pro-Am.
- Check out what else in is Rory’s bag.
- Read the full NCG TaylorMade TP5 ball review here.
2) J.J. Spaun – Srixon Z-Star Diamond
Srixon are gaining a reputation for producing fantastic golf balls – both on Tour and for the recreational players.
The Srixon Z-Star Diamond is the model of choice for JJ.
=3) Lucas Glover – Srixon Z-Star XV
The Srixon Z-Star XV is the ball of choice for Lucas Glover. Further enhancing Srixon’s reputation for producing Tour standard golf balls. The only brand to feature more than once amongst the top 5 players.
- Check out what else is in Lucas Glover’s bag.
- Read the NCG Srixon Z-Star XV golf ball review here.
=3) Akshay Bhatia – Callaway Chrome Tour
The golf ball that took Xander Schauffele to two major victories in 2024 and with players like Akshay putting it to fine use there is no doubt Callaway are now producing quality Tour level golf balls.
Callaway are certainly making strides in the golf ball market with more and more recreational golfers also turning to Callaway when it comes to golf balls.
- Check out what else is in Akshay’s bag.
- Read the full NCG Callaway Chrome Tour golf ball review here.
=3) Tom Hoge – Titleist Pro V1 Left Dot
Tom Hoge shot a final round 66 which shot him up the leaderboard.
His ball of the choice is the Titleist Pro V1 Left Dot – which is a Tour only ball.
Check out below the full reviews for the 2025 Titleist Pro V1 and Pro V1x.
- Titleist 2025 Pro V1 Golf Ball Review: Marketing Spin or Performance Leap?
- Titleist 2025 Pro V1x Golf Ball Review: Is it actually better?
Golf Balls Used At The Players 2025: Summary
Top 5 Balls after Round 1
=1) J.J.Spaun – Srixon Z-Star Diamond / =1) Camilo Vegas – Titleist Pro V1x / =1) Lucas Glover – Srixon Z-Star XV =4) Min-Woo Lee – Callaway Chrome Tour X / =4) Billy Horschel – Titleist Pro V1x / =4) Rory McIlroy – TaylorMade TP5 / =4) Akshay Bhatia – Callaway Chrome Tour / =4) Max McGreevy – Srixon Z-Star Diamond
Summary: Srixon x 3, Titleist x 2, Callaway x 2, TaylorMade x 1
Top 5 Balls after Round 2
=1) Min-Woo Lee – Callaway Chrome Tour X / =1) Akshay Bhatia – Callaway Chrome Tour 3) J.J.Spaun – Srixon Z-Star Diamond =4) Rory McIlroy – TaylorMade TP5 / =4) Collin Morikawa TaylorMade TP5x =4) Alex Smalley – Titleist Pro V1x
Summary: Callaway x 2, TaylorMade x 2, Srixon x 1 and Titleist x 1
Top 5 Balls after Round 3
1) J.J.Spaun – Srixon Z-Star Diamond 2) Budd Cauley – Tileist Pro V1 =3) Lucas Glover – Srixon Z-Star XV =3) Alex Smalley – Titleist Pro V1x =5) Rory McIlroy – TaylorMade TP5 =5) Akshay Bhatia – Callaway Chrome Tour =5) Corey Conners – Titleist Pro V1x
Summary: Titleist x 3, Srixon x 2, Callaway x 1 and TaylorMade x 1
Top 5 Balls after Final Round
1) Rory McIlroy – TaylorMade TP5 2) J.J.Spaun – Srixon Z-Star Diamond =3) Lucas Glover – Srixon Z-Star XV =3) Akshay Bhatia – Callaway Chrome Tour =3) Tom Hoge – Titleist Pro V1 Left Dot
Summary: Srixon x 2, TaylorMade, Callaway and Titleist x 1
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