Players Championship 2015: Leaderboard Scores and Highlights from Sunday

The story of this year's Players Championship was changes, as no one seemed to want a victory. Rickie Fowler won a sudden-death playoff over Kevin Kisner on the first hole after a three-hole aggregate playoff that also included Sergio Garcia.     

The difference turned out to be Fowler's mastery of the legendary 17th hole, which saw him hit three birdies on Sunday alone, including the decisive putt against Kisner. 

Fowler appeared to have things in hand when he walked off the course in the lead at 12 under, but Kevin Kisner and Sergio Garcia birdied 17 to tie things up and force a three-hole aggregate playoff. All three men would par the first playoff hole on No. 16, but the second hole would give Fowler and Kisner the edge.

Fowler and Kisner hit short birdie putts following excellent tee shots on the 17th hole. Garcia was forced to settle for par after his tee shot left him with a long 39-foot birdie opportunity that didn't have a chance at falling. 

On the final hole of the aggregate playoff, Kisner had a long birdie putt with the ball just off the green stop just short of the hole. He came within inches of winning on that putt after being a couple of centimeters from victory in regulation. 

Kisner and Fowler would hit par putts to force a sudden-death playoff that began on the 17th hole. Kisner's tee shot hit the near edge of the green and took a huge bounce to the opposite side. He would go on to par the hole, giving Fowler an opening that he took advantage of. 

Fowler's tee shot was nothing short of brilliant, with the ball dying less than five feet from the hole as soon as it hit the green, per PGA Tour:

This is how the final leaderboard from the 2015 Players Championship looked:

Kisner had a chance to win on the 18th hole with a short birdie putt that didn't break as soon as he thought and scraped the edge of the cup before sliding right past, forcing him to settle for par. This is how close the 31-year-old came to winning, per the PGA Tour:

Despite not having a PGA Tour victory under his belt, Kisner didn't seem fazed by the stage coming down the stretch. Kelly Tilghman of the Golf Channel noted he looked like a guy who has done this before:

"

Kevin Kisner looks like he's been here a million times but he's a first timer.

— Kelly Tilghman (@KellyTilghmanGC) May 10, 2015"

Fowler was the first one in the playoff trio done, sitting in the clubhouse, thinking he had his second career PGA Tour victory. The 26-year-old had a terrific final round on the first 18 holes, shooting a 67 that included a four-hole run from No. 15 through 18 with three birdies and one eagle. 

Here's how Fowler's late surge looked on the TPC Sawgrass, per the PGA Tour:

According to the PGA Tour Media's official Twitter account, Fowler's total of five-under on the final four holes was a new event record:

Even though Fowler has had success on the PGA Tour, he's been a hard-luck loser in the past. He finished in the top five at every major last year, including tying for second at the U.S. Open and British Open, but couldn't get over the final hurdle before Sunday. 

Fellow golfer Ian Poulter had some fun with his friend on Twitter after that birdie-eagle barrage gave him a shot to win:

Meghan Hardin of the LPGA Symetra Tour tweeted that Fowler's critics will need to find something else to focus on for the foreseeable future:

Garcia's birdie on 17 was one of the tournament's biggest surprises because he'd been dreadful on the greens all weekend. He snapped a putter after Friday's second round, telling Steve Elling of GolfBlot.com that his claw putting grip wasn't working.

“What do you think? I mean, obviously, if it was working, I would go with it,” he said. “But I came back [and used it] the last four holes and I made one putt. So, I don’t know, it’s just frustrating, but I’ll have to figure out something.”

Naturally, with a chance to tie for the lead, Garcia drilled a 30-foot putt on the 17th hole to put himself in the playoff mix. 

Per ESPN's Jason Sobel, Garcia actually had three putters with him this weekend and finally found the right one through unusual circumstances:

Garcia's good vibes with the putter wouldn't last, as he left a birdie opportunity on the first playoff hole a few feet short before tapping in to stay even with Fowler and Kisner heading onto the second playoff hole (No. 17). 

After falling behind going into the final playoff hole, Garcia couldn't get his birdie putt to fall and missed out on the sudden-death playoff. It was another missed chance, as he was the only player whose approach shot landed on the green. 

While Kisner and Garcia will be disappointed they didn't have that one extra shot in them, this final round was all about what Fowler was able to do. He didn't start out on fire but turned on the jets down the stretch to give himself a chance to win. 

As noted by ESPN's Mike Tirico, the future of American golf looks to be in great hands with Fowler's win here and Jordan Spieth's run at the Masters Tournament:

It took four additional holes and a breakthrough effort from Kisner for the young star to get that elusive second win. Fowler has been waiting for this moment nearly three years to the day, with the win at the Wells Fargo Championship happening on May 6. 

Now that the pressure is easing on Fowler's shoulders, his summer looks bright with the U.S. Open and British Open coming over the next two months.