ST. LOUIS (AP) — Wyndham Clark has been through this before — dropping a massive lead in the closing spherical, taking part in alongside a gallery favourite. He completed sturdy Sunday at the BMW Championship, just like he did at the U.S. Open, and closed with an even-par 70 for a three-shot victory at Bellerive.
Clark won for the third time this 12 months, placing him squarely in the dialog for PGA Tour participant of the 12 months contemplating one was a main and the other was a FedEx Cup playoff occasion.
But just like at Shinnecock Hills, it wasn’t straightforward.
He lost his five-shot lead to Rory McIlroy in 11 holes and it was tense down the closing hour until Clark — with out a birdie all day — holed a birdie putt from just outside 15 toes on the par-3 sixteenth. McIlroy had a putt to match birdies and stayed tied and missed.
Wyndham Clark reacts after sinking a putt on the sixteenth inexperienced during the third spherical of the BMW Championship at Bellerive Country Club on August 22, 2026 in St. Louis, Missouri. PGA TOUR
McIlroy made a mess of the par-5 seventeenth, going from tough to bunker to bunker for a bogey, and Clark started to draw back with another birdie. He completed with a third straight birdie for fashion factors, ending at 17-under 263.
“It shows I’m one of the best players in the world,” Clark said. “Everyone gives me a hard time and roots for other people. Three wins in one season is my best year yet, coming off my worst season.”
Clark wasn’t the only one with cause to have a good time.
Patrick Cantlay, who came in at No. 43 in the FedEx Cup, confirmed loads of moxie. Four occasions he bounced back from a bogey with a birdie, closing with three birdies in a row for a 68 to end runner-up and be among the prime 30 in the FedEx Cup who advance to the Tour Championship.
The winner next week at East Lake captures the FedEx Cup.
“I’m coming to a golf course that I played really well at next week,” said Cantlay, who won at East Lake in 2021 to claim the FedEx Cup. “So I’m really pleased with where my game is at and I think I’m trending in the right direction.”
Wyndham Clark performs a shot from the twelfth tee during the third spherical of the BMW Championship at Bellerive Country Club on August 22, 2026 in St. Louis, Missouri. PGA TOUR
Also shifting into the prime 30 was Gary Woodland, who pulled within one shot of the lead until topping his tee shot into a creek on the ninth gap on his manner to a double bogey. He closed with 9 straight pars and fought back tears as he returns to the Tour Championship for the first time since 2019 while recovering from mind surgical procedure three years in the past.
He said Saturday, when he was in the closing group, took a lot out of him with the noise, the vitality and the drones that triggered the sort of mind exercise he tries to calm. On Sunday, he tried to embrace it and pulled through with a 69 to tie for fourth.
“I tried to enjoy it,” he said. “Outside of topping a ball — I haven’t done that for a long time — I’m just really proud.”
McIlroy didn’t make a birdie over the last seven holes after tying for the lead, closed with a 69 and completed alone in third.
Robert MacIntyre closed with a 65 and tied for seventh, enough to transfer him into the prime 30 for a return to East Lake. Those falling out of the prime 30 were Rickie Fowler, Bud Cauley and Kurt Kitayama. British Open champion Ryan Fox nailed down the closing spot.
Clark didn’t face close to the vitriol he did at Shinnecock Hills, when the New York crowd went from pulling for Scottie Scheffler in his bid for the profession Grand Slam to brazenly rooting against Clark. There was one voice that shouted, “Get in the bunker!” when Clark hit to the par-3 thirteenth. Otherwise, it was a clear pro-McIlroy crowd.
That was OK with Clark. He overcame three bogeys and a state of thoughts where he felt like he couldn’t hit the proper shot or make any putt. And then he delivered his finest swing — and finest putt — on a 232-yard par 3 that yielded only 5 birdies all day.
“I wasn’t really nervous. I was kind of like … out of it,” Clark said. “I was making dumb bogeys. I didn’t make anything on the greens. When I made the putt on the par 3, it got me back. As much as I would have liked to run away with it, it was enjoyable to get the juices going.
“I’m really proud of myself that I didn’t let it get away.”
Clark also moved into the prime six computerized spots that certified for the Presidents Cup, becoming a member of Scheffler, Cameron Young, Russell Henley, Sam Burns and Collin Morikawa.