Wyndham Clark nearly let it all slip away Sunday afternoon. But thanks to three straight birdies down the stretch, the only ones he made all day, Clark is leaving Bellerive Country Club with his third win of the season.
Clark held on and fended off a late push from Rory McIlroy to claim the BMW Championship title on Sunday in St. Louis. Wyndham Clark posted an even par 70 in the final round and finished at 17-under for the week, three shots clear of the field in the second FedExCup Playoffs stop.
Now, Wyndham Clark will jump to No. 3 in the FedExCup standings entering next week’s Tour Championship. The win also earned him a $3.6 million check.
“It was fun actually,” Wyndham Clark said on CBS. “As much as I would have loved to run away with this, it was fun getting the juices going and really feel the angst coming down at the end.”
Wyndham Clark carried a five-shot lead into the final round in St. Louis, though only after a wild Saturday that saw him lose the lead after a double bogey on the opening hole. But Clark ended up rattling off five birdies and an eagle in an eight-hole stretch around the turn to rebound and post his 5-under 65.
That gave Clark a five-shot advantage headed into the final round for the second time this season. Wyndham Clark led by six entering the final round at the U.S. Open, and he held on to beat Sam Burns by a stroke to claim his second major championship title. It also put Clark in the final group with McIlroy, who climbed up into a tie for second with his 5-under 65 on Moving Day.
Wyndham Clark’s advantage disappeared quickly. He bogeyed the first while Gary Woodland made three birdies in his first five holes to jump within two shots. Woodland got within one after he sank an 8-footer at the eighth, too, while Clark bogeyed a second time.
Yet once he got within striking distance, Woodland stumbled. He topped his drive at the ninth into the creek that crossed just in front of the forward tees in a brutal miss, and ended up making a double bogey to close out his opening nine. It was a bad miss at just about the worst possible time.
But even with Woodland’s slip, Wyndham Clark couldn’t hold onto his lead. He made the turn and bogeyed the 10th, and the lead was gone completely. Suddenly, he was tied with Patrick Cantlay, and the tournament was wide open.
That’s when McIlroy made his move. McIlroy, after Cantlay fell back, sank a birdie putt at the 11th, marking his third in a four-hole span, to tie Clark at 14-under.
After a battle between the two for the next several holes, Wyndham Clark got his first birdie of the day to fall. He drained a deep 17-footer for birdie at the 16th, which set off a huge celebration for him before walking off the green as the solo leader again.
McIlroy’s birdie look was just left of the hole, and then he bogeyed the next one to suddenly give Clark a multi-shot lead again.
Clark birdied the 17th and 18th for good measure and was suddenly up by three. The win, which many thought he would cruise to, was finally his.
“I wasn’t really nervous,” Clark said on CBS. “I was kind of like, out of it … I kept trying to get myself going. I think when I made the putt on [16], it kind of got me back and I jumped right back into it.”
McIlroy finished third at 13-under. Cantlay, who got back to 14-under on the week, finished alone in second to qualify for the Tour Championship.
Wyndham Clark press conference after winning the BMW Championship
Clark’s first win of the season was at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in May. While he finished T5 in Memphis last week to open the postseason, that came after he missed the cut in back-to-back weeks, including at the British Open last month.
Only the top 30 in the FedExCup standings will now move on to the season-ending Tour Championship next week at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. The winner of that tournament will take home the FedEx Cup trophy. While Clark is now in third, he’s still well back from leader Scottie Scheffler.
But the staggered starting format at East Lake is gone, so Clark has as much of a shot as anyone in the field to claim the yearlong prize next Sunday. And by avoiding a brutal collapse, Clark is in a tremendous spot with just 72 holes to go in the season.
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