Wyndham Clark blows lead, wins anyway to enter player of the year conversation
ST.LOUIS (AP) — Wyndham Clark has been through this before — losing a big lead in the final round, playing alongside a gallery favorite.
He finished strong 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 year, putting him squarely in the conversation for PGA Tour player of the year considering one was a major and the other was a FedEx Cup playoff event.But just like at Shinnecock Hills, it wasn’t easy.He lost his five-shot lead to Rory McIlroy in 11 holes and it was tense down the final hour until Clark — without a birdie all day — holed a birdie putt from just outside 15 feet on the par-3 16th.
McIlroy had a putt to match birdies and stayed tied and missed.McIlroy made a mess of the par-5 17th, going from rough to bunker to bunker for a bogey, and Clark began to pull away with another birdie.He finished with a third straight birdie for style points, finishing 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 celebrate.Patrick Cantlay, who came in at No.
43 in the FedEx Cup, showed plenty of moxie.Four times he bounced back from a bogey with a birdie, closing with three birdies in a row for a 68 to finish runner-up and be among the top 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.”Also moving into the top 30 was Gary Woodland, who pulled within one shot of the lead until topping his tee shot into a creek on the ...