'Jeopardy!' surprise: Viewers of the popular show haven't seen this happen since 2015

Warning: This story reveals spoilers from Tuesday's episode of "Jeopardy!"

"Jeopardy!" fans (in most markets) witnessed something rather rare during Tuesday night's episode.

For the first time in more than five years, a contestant headed alone into Final Jeopardy! This was because the other competitors were in negative territory after the Double Jeopardy! round, making them ineligible to compete in the closing segment.

Alison Shapiro, a rep for the syndicated game show, said in a statement to USA TODAY that the last person to compete solo in Final Jeopardy! was Kristin Sausville on March 12, 2015.

The contestant who had the Final Jeopardy! round all to himself on Tuesday was Kevin Walsh, a 48-year-old story analyst from Burbank, California.

Host Alex Trebek quipped about the strange occurrence during the episode, saying that the stage "looks like a very lonely place right now."

"I cannot recall the last time we had only one player in Final Jeopardy!" he added.

Walsh's Literary Pronouns clue: "Thanks to a horror film, this novel returned to the bestseller lists in 2017, some 30 years after reaching No. 1."

The champ looked pretty confident as he waited for the "Jeopardy!" theme song to end.

"You wrote down your response so quickly," Trebek observed. And it turned out, Walsh had it right: What is "It"?

He'd bet $4,400 of his $14,400 total, leaving him with a daily haul of $18,800.

And on top of his single-handed Final Jeopardy!, Walsh is also this season's first four-day winner. His total earnings so far: $81,700.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Jeopardy!' surprise: This hasn't happened since 2015