ST. LOUIS — Wyndham Clark bogeyed the opening hole at Bellerive for the second straight day, and moments later on Sunday, Rory McIlroy connected on a birdie putt.
And with that two-shot swing, the final-round stage was set at the 2026 BMW Championship: The six-time major champion and crowd-favorite McIlroy versus the reigning U.S. Open winner, who overcame boos from the gallery at Shinnecock earlier this summer.
Add in Patrick Cantlay and Gary Woodland, who emerged as challengers in the middle round — with Cantlay sharing the lead for a brief moment after Clark lost his five-shot advantage after 54 holes, and it was a drama-filled Sunday in the Show-Me State that saw three spots to the Tour Championship change hands.
McIlroy also got a chance to share the lead with a birdie at No. 11 after Clark added a third bogey to his scorecard on the previous hole. Much to the disappointment of the crowds, it was McIlroy’s final birdie of the round. He bogeyed the par-5 17th to finish solo third at 13 under.
Clark’s putter caught fire at the perfect time, as he knocked down birdies at each of the final three holes to head into the clubhouse as the BMW Championship winner at 17 under.
“I think it shows that I’m one of the best players in the world,” said Clark when asked what a week like this proves to himself. “I know everyone maybe gives me a hard time and roots for other people, but I feel like I’ve kind of come into my own. Three wins in one season is my best year yet. Coming off my worst year ever. I’m just really pleased where I’m at right now.”
The early bogeys did not come from nerves, Clark said after the round. He told reporters he was “kind of out of it” mentally early in his round Sunday.
“I was making just dumb bogeys — I couldn’t believe I didn’t make anything on greens; I kept trying to get myself going,” he explained. “Then I think when I made the putt on the par-3 [on the 16th hole], it kind of got me back and I jumped right back into it.”
Despite the erratic round, he said he had fun.
“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.”
Player of the year talk
Reminiscent of his win at the 126th U.S. Open, Clark outlasted everyone — not just McIlroy — without bringing his ‘A’ game on Sunday.
McIlroy left Bellerive so impressed by his final round playing partner that he was willing to reopen the door on PGA Tour Player of the Year talk — just a few days removed from saying it was Scottie Scheffler’s award to lose.
“It’s sort of all to play for it next week with, you know, Wyndham doing what he did today,” said McIlroy, who played the first two rounds with Scheffler in Memphis. “Next week will make things interesting.”
Drenched and shocked
Woodland, who shared part of the lead with McIlroy and Clark after the opening round and was within one shot of it on his front nine Sunday, topped his tee shot at No. 9 in to a nearby creek. He eventually double bogeyed the hole — his first of the week.
Despite the costly error, Woodland finished T-4 at 12 under with Chris Gotterup and Collin Morikawa and made into the top 30 in FedExCup points to make the field at East Lake for the first time since 2019.
“I was trying to get on top of it, trying to hit it a little low — I had been hitting it nice,” said Woodland with a laugh after the round. “But I was shocked more than anything. I told my caddie, ‘I think I just topped that into the water.’ But I’m proud of myself for rebounding because I could have let it get away pretty good. It shocked me more than anything. I haven’t done that in a long long time.”
Cantlay also failed to get through the turn unscathed, posting his third square of the front nine in way to a 34. He opened his back with a birdie to get back in contention, but the 2021 FedExCup winner wilted immediately with a double bogey at the next hole. He finished in solo second at 14 under and, like Woodland, is heading to East Lake comfortably, thanks to his work at Bellerive.
“Next week’s a golf course that I think suits me really well so I’m really happy to be going back,” he told reporters.
Presidents Cup
Cantlay’s also playing for a possible trip to Medinah as a Presidents Cup captain’s pick.
“I’m still focused on this year — I got another chance to win a golf tournament next week and I’ll let all of the other stuff take care of itself,” he said when asked about Presidents Cup potential.
Morikawa, who entered the day in solo sixth, was within three shots of the lead until he bogeyed the par-4 11th — the first of three squares on his back nine.
“I was kind of all over the place throughout the week,” Morikawa said. “Didn’t hit many fairways, made some mistakes with some irons.”
He said his goals for the week were to win the tournament but also to build momentum for and make the Presidents Cup team — the last spot he seemed to secure through his work in St. Louis.
“You never know, [Captain Brandt] Snedeker has told us all year, ‘If you’re not top 6, anything is on the table,’” Morikawa said. “This is the time where you really want to play well. ... Hopefully we can build off that into next week. I feel like the last few years I’ve kind of had poor results at BMW, showed up at East Lake and just said, ‘All to the wall,’ and see what happens. Hopefully we can build something.”