US Open champion Wyndham Clark had to survive a rocky initial phase before coming through for his maiden BMW Championship win in St Louis, Missouri, on Sunday. Image courtesy PGA Tour/X.
By Rahul Banerji
Wyndham Clark had flashes of deja vu from the US Open before holding on to win his maiden BMW Championship at Bellerive in St Louis, Missouri, on Sunday.
At Shinnecock, Scottie Scheffler almost tracked him down despite a six-shot lead on Title Sunday. This time too, Clark led by five shots headed into the final round and was nearly reeled in by Masters winner Rory McIlroy, who actually led early on in the back nine.
And after hanging tough over the closing stretch and with the trophy safely in his custody, Clark repeated what a friend had told him recently, “Darth Vader had more fun.”
Trailing the Northern Irishman after 11 holes on the tense back nine at Bellerive, Clark responded like a champion, stuffing a 5 iron on the 232-yard par-3 hole 16 to makeable distance for a birdie putt.
He then followed up with two more to finish on level par 70 and a 17 under par 263 for the tournament.
Underdog status
“I’ve kind of been the underdog in all of my wins,” the US Open champion said later after surviving yet another storm of support for his rivals. “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.
“I wasn’t really nervous. I was kind of like … out of it, making dumb bogeys and 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 loved to run away with it, it was fun to get the juices going. I’m really proud of myself that I didn’t let it get away.”
Clark (64-64-65-70) surrendered his five-shot lead to McIlroy (65-69-65-69) by the 11th and it was still level pegging till 16 when he picked up a shot and McIlroy from the same distance could not.
“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,” McIlroy said after finishing third on 13 under 267 behind Patrick Cantlay (67-65-66-68, 14 under 266).
Steely character
“I had my chances, but Wyndham stepped up. The way he played the last three holes, he showed a lot of character.”
Two-time BMW Championship winner Cantlay also closed his round with three birdies to finish runner-up on 14 under with the Tour Championship later this week at East Lake in Atlanta.
Clark had to survive three bogies on Sunday and Cantlay went one better but his closing 68 also gave him a spot in the top 30 and a slot at East Lake along with Gary Woodland and Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre.
“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.”
For Clark, it was a sixth PGA Tour win in all and his third this season after the CJ Cup Byron Nelson and the US Open. Sunday’s win made him the first to win both the national Open and BMW after Dustin Johnson 10 years ago.
Also read: Clark opens up commanding advantage at BMW Championship
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