Rory McIlroy openly acknowledged that his game still falls short of his expectations as he approaches the season‑ending Tour Championship, even after a razor‑thin loss at the BMW Championship. The Northern Irish star described his recent form as "far from where it needs to be," a sentiment that lingered after a lackluster showing at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, where he finished 66th out of 68 competitors. In stark contrast, his play in St.
Louis represented a dramatic upswing. At Bellerive Country Club, the world number two birdied three of his final four holes in the third round, closing the gap to just five strokes behind leader Wyndham Clark.
That surge set up a Sunday showdown with the US Open champion, and McIlroy managed to draw level with Clark on the final day, keeping the contest alive until the closing holes. Despite staying tied for the lead with three holes remaining, McIlroy ultimately slipped to third place, finishing four strokes behind Clark, who capped his round with a three‑birdie finish to secure a three‑stroke victory and his third PGA Tour win of the year. "I'm closer [with my game] than I was at the start of the week," McIlroy admitted, "but I'm still not in a spot where I'm super happy with where my game is or where my swing is, so I just have to keep working on it." He added, "It's nice to know, even when I'm not super happy with everything, I can still piece it together and get it around and still give myself a chance to win tournaments." The Irishman capitalized on a two‑shot swing on the opening hole and recovered from bogeys on the fourth and seventh holes, then rattled off three birdies over a four‑hole stretch beginning at the eighth.
This surge allowed him to level the score after Clark had posted three over for his first ten holes. Clark, however, edged ahead with a 15‑foot birdie putt on the 16th and followed it with a two‑shot swing on the subsequent par‑five, making birdie as McIlroy dropped a shot. Clark then sealed his win with another birdie on the 18th, widening the margin over Patrick Cantlay.
"I felt like most of my game held up today," McIlroy reflected. "Obviously, going out in the final group and you're working on some stuff, you're just hoping that everything stays the way it is. I hit it well on the back nine.
I gave myself plenty of chances. I just couldn't get a putt to drop there in those final few holes.
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." The two competitors both found the rough off the tee on the par‑five 17th. Clark elected to lay up, setting himself up for a birdie, while McIlroy took a risk, bouncing from bunker to bunker before ultimately carding a tournament‑ending bogey. "I tried to get it up a bit too far," McIlroy conceded.
"I should have been taking that left bunker out of play. If you're going to lay it up, lay it up, so just another stupid decision with a lay‑up on a par‑five that cost me." When CBS Sports asked whether he felt he deserved the win, McIlroy replied, "I can't be too disappointed. I'm probably not playing well enough to be disappointed that I didn't win. I had my chances on the back nine and hit a lot of good putts that didn't go in.
Wyndham Clark stepped up when he needed to. His birdie on 16 was huge and the way he played the last three holes, he showed a lot of character." The PGA Tour season now builds toward its climax at the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club, where only the top 30 players in the FedExCup standings will compete for the $10 million first prize and the coveted FedExCup trophy. As the tour winds down, fans will be watching closely to see whether McIlroy can translate the flashes of brilliance he displayed in St. Louis into a more consistent performance at East Lake, or whether Clark's steady play will continue to dominate the leaderboard.
The final stretch promises high drama, with each shot potentially reshaping the race for the season‑long title.