ST. LOUIS — Wyndham Clark lost the lead with a double bogey on the first hole and then left everyone in his wake Saturday at Bellerive, making five birdies and an eagle in an eight-hole stretch and finishing with a 5-under 65 to build a five-shot lead in the BMW Championship.
It was the second time this year Clark has led by at least five shots going into the final round. He had a six-shot advantage at the U.S. Open and held on to win by one for his second major.
Rory McIlroy ran off three straight birdies late in the round and saved par from a bunker on the 18th for a 65. Patrick Cantlay birdied the 18th for a 66. They were tied for second, a position far more relevant to Cantlay. He is at No. 43 in the FedEx Cup and needs a high finish to be among the top 30 who advance to the FedEx Cup finale next week in Atlanta.
“That’s a lot to make up,” McIlroy said of his deficit. “But if I focus on myself, try to shoot a good score — I shot a 64 and a 65 this week — shoot something similar tomorrow, you never know.”
Gary Woodland, trying to cap off his remarkable year with a return to the Tour Championship, managed only two birdies in a round of 70. He was six shots behind, perhaps too far back to challenge Clark but high enough to extend his season another week. He was tied with Chris Gotterup (68).
Clark was bogey-free through 36 holes and only once was under serious stress of making a par. But he pulled his tee shot into gnarly rough on the opening hole, hit the next one into the right rough, came up short of the green and missed a 7-foot putt to take double bogey.
Just like that, he was one shot behind Woodland. They were tied when the crowd erupted for Woodland’s 15-foot birdie putt on the par-4 seventh. Clark followed with a 10-foot birdie, and that was the start of one of those hot streaks where Clark looks like he can’t miss.
He hit a 5-wood to 12 feet for eagle on the par-5 eighth. He holed a 30-foot birdie putt on the 10th, another birdie on the 11th from about 15 feet. And then he made a pair of birdie putts from the 12-foot range on the 13th and 14th to start pulling away.
“You start seeing the lines and you’re so much more committed” Clark said of his putting. “You’re like, ‘OK, that’s exactly it.’ And then you just stroke it and the ball goes in.”
Clark is going for his third win this year, which would put him in the conversation for PGA Tour player of the year with his major championship.
Otherwise, Sunday is a matter of who gets to East Lake in Atlanta, where all 30 players only have to win to claim the FedEx Cup and the $10 million payoff.
Justin Thomas took a step back with a 71, leaving him in a tie for 15th. Sungjae Im shot 70 and was alone in seventh. He can’t afford to fall any farther down the leaderboard if he wants to keep alive his streak of being at East Lake every year dating to his rookie season in 2019.
Sunday also is the cutoff to get the six automatic spots on the Presidents Cup. Clark is likely a lock even without moving into the top six spots. Ben Griffin shot a 68 but was still tied for 35th, jeopardizing his chances of being on the U.S. team at Medinah next month. Cantlay is too far back to be an automatic qualifier, but getting to East Lake goes a long way toward being an easy pick.
“I feel like my game’s in a good spot and ready to go shoot a low one tomorrow,” Cantlay said.
Scottie Scheffler shot 68 and was tied for 15th, 12 shots out of the lead.
