Updated Aug. 23, 2026, 10:29 p.m. ET
Wyndham Clark hadn’t made a birdie all day in the final round of the BMW Championship, and had blown his five-streak lead at the start of the day.
Major winners Rory McIlroy, Gary Woodland and past FedEx Cup champion Patrick Cantlay stacked up behind him and McIlroy, the reigning Masters champ, eventually caught Clark at the 11th.
“The momentum was all on Rory’s side, but I knew that I just needed one little spark to get it on my side,” he said.
Earlier in his career, Clark, 32, would have folded but he’s playing the best golf of his career these days and found the spark he needed to birdie the final three holes and shoot even-par 70 at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis to win by three strokes over Cantlay and four over McIlroy.
“I would say through the first three days of this event I felt like the best player in the world. Then today humbled me a little bit,” Clark said. “It was fun, actually. 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.”
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Clark surged to a five-stroke lead heading into the final round by playing 7 under during an eight-hole stretch on Saturday. It started unraveling for Clark early at the first hole of the final round, where he made bogey, and “my mind was just racing,” he said. When he pounded his par putt at No. 6 through the break, he recalled thinking, “Man, I’m just not there mentally.”
It was déjà vu all over again. At the U.S. Open in June, he carried a commanding lead into the final round and the fans cheered at his front-nine miscues, hoping to see world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler make history by completing the career Grand Slam. This time, they were split between pulling for Gary Woodland, who has battled back from brain surgery and grew up 3 ½ hours down the road, and for McIlroy, to provide some drama. First, Woodland trimmed the lead to one but he cold-topped his tee shot at No. 9 into a creek and made double bogey. He finished T-4. Cantlay twice cut the deficit to one but made bogey at nine and double bogey at No. 11. He birdied the last three holes to finish second, jumped into the top 30 and earned a spot in the Tour Championship along with Woodland and Robert MacIntyre. McIlroy, who entered the day five back, kept lurking and when Clark bogeyed the 10th, his third bogey of the day, and McIlroy rolled in a 9-foot birdie at No. 11, Clark’s lead was gone.
“Dave my caddie said, ‘Hey, our back’s against the wall and that’s when you play some of your best golf.’ He goes, ‘This is fun. Let’s just embrace it,’ ” recalled Clark. “I just kept telling myself, I’m in a good spot, I’m in a good spot, that’s where I want to be, and good things are going to happen.”
The positive self-talk is an example of his work paying off with mental coach Julie Elion. She remembers veteran pro Chez Reavie telling her if she could help Clark with his focus and determination, he’d be capable of greatness, and called him the best ball striker he’d ever seen. [Clark ranked second in Strokes Gained: Approach and second in proximity to the hole for the week.]
For all of his talent, Clark had produced no birdies through the first 15 holes until he broke the seal at 16. First, McIlroy drew a 5-iron to 15 feet at the 229-yard par-3 16th. With the pressure on Clark stepped up and drilled a beauty of his own.
“I kind of told myself I can do the same thing. And I said this shot actually favors me more, because I hit a cut and he hits a draw. I hit a high 5-iron, went a little farther than I thought. But yeah, I thought putting that shot roughly the same distance as him was a big deal,” Clark said.
Earlier in the round, McIlroy had drained a few putts when he’d gone first and Clark failed to answer. This time, Clark was just outside McIlroy and poured in the putt to regain the lead. McIlroy missed his birdie tie to tie it up again and when he made a sloppy bogey at 17 and Clark drained another birdie putt from 13 feet, it was all but over.
“I thought that was a big thing for the momentum for me to make that putt and kind of put the pressure on him to make his,” said Clark, who canned a 17-footer at the last for good measure. He finished with a 72-hole total of 17-under 263 for his sixth career win.
McIlroy rued his putter picking a bad time to misbehave. “I gave myself plenty of chances. I just couldn’t get a putt to drop there those final few holes,” McIlroy said. “I always felt like I needed to just get my nose ahead to really try to put the pressure on Wyndham, and I couldn’t.”
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And McIlroy also re-opened the debate for PGA Tour Player of the Year heading to the Tour Championship, where the winner of the FedEx Cup could determine who gets voted as winner of the Jack Nicklaus Award. After all but conceding the trophy to world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who finished T-10 despite dealing with Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease this week, for a fifth consecutive time, McIlroy said Player of the Year still is up for grabs.
“You know, Wyndham doing what he did today, yeah, next week will make things interesting,” he said.
Clark, winner of the U.S. Open in June, won for the third time on the PGA Tour this season, tying for the most wins on the year with Matt Fitzpatrick and Chris Gotterup. He leaped into the top six of the U.S. Presidents Cup point standings and secured one of six automatic spots on the 12-man team. Clark stopped short of campaigning for himself, but after his latest victory in a playoff event, he had every reason to be proud of the comeback he’s made after a rocky season last year.
“I think it shows that I’m one of the best players in the world,” Clark said. “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. Yeah, I’m just really pleased where I’m at right now.”
Adam Schupak is a Golfweek senior writer covering the PGA Tour.