Two-time US Open champion Wyndham Clark claimed victory in the second FedEx Cup play-off event, the BMW Championship. The Denver-born star claimed the second major win of his career at Shinnecock earlier in the year and showed his form is still just as good with a brilliant performance at Bellerive Country Club, Missouri.
Clark shot a 263 aggregate of 17 under to win by three shots from Patrick Cantlay. That earned him $3.6m, with Rory McIlroy finishing third and Scottie Scheffler down in 12th. Rory and Bob MacIntyre (T7) were the only Europeans in the top 15 as Clark cemented his spot at number five in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR).
Speaking afterwards, the winner said “I’m one of the best players in the world. Everyone gives me a hard time and roots for other people, but I’ve come into my own. It’s my best season yet coming off my worst year.” Clark now boasts three wins this season but was given a fright here when Rory managed to pull level after being five behind at one stage.
The world number five rallied superbly though, showing real grit and nerve to birdie each of the last three holes after a sticky run threatened to derail him. Cantlay also closed with a hat-trick of birdies to nick second spot from McIlroy. The NI ace stumbled at the end of his round but declared he was “not playing well enough to be too disappointed to not win”.
Tour Championship is Next Stop
The BMW Championship served to whittle down the FedEx Cup field from 50 to 30. The survivors will now head from Missouri to Georgia, and more specifically Atlanta’s East Lake Golf Club. The victor will take home $10m, plus the unusual Calamity Jane Trophy, named after (and indeed a replica of) a putter used by Bobby Jones, the man who was so influential in founding the US Masters, and indeed Augusta National itself.
Each of the past five winners of the event have made the final 30 this time around, though defending champion Tommy Fleetwood is a 18/1 outsider. The man who won in 2024, Scheffler, is the 10/3 favourite, with McIlroy, who won in 2022, 2019 and 2016, the only other player at single-digit odds (15/2). Clark is priced at 14/1, but with the current format of the series seeing this event held as a straight one-off tournament, any of the 30 could very easily take home the $10m cheque.
East Lake has been home to this event since 2004, while it also did the honours in 1998, 2000 and 2002. Due to the nature of the tournament, many of the competitors in 2026 have not only played here several times before, but also boast pretty good course form.
Overall, though, Xander Schauffele and McIlroy probably boast the best course form. Both have shot the lowest score (excluding “handicap” shots, which have been used in past formats) at East Lake twice in the past seven years. It promises to be a thrilling event, even if the average fan is not as thrilled as they apparently should be.
Exciting Changes Ahead
Whatever happens in Atlanta this weekend, this seems set to be the penultimate edition of the FedEx Cup played in the current format. The structure of the season-ending series has been tinkered with over the years, but from 2028 we will see a huge change to the incredibly lucrative competition.
Welcome to match play.
32 players. Two weeks. Head-to-head.
A new era begins in 2028. pic.twitter.com/wylYyKv2DG
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 25, 2026
There is a $40m purse up for grabs in East Lake but despite that, and the fact that only the best and most in-form 30 golfers in the world will take part, the tournament, and series as a whole, has often seemed somehow lacking. The public have not really fully bought into the importance and prestige of the FedEx Cup in the way that organisers would want.
It is hoped that a change to matchplay in 2028 will rectify that. Brian Rolapp, PGA Tour CEO, recently confirmed that the Tour Championship will be extended to a two-week contest, using two different courses. The matchplay format is believed to be very popular with fans but has not been seen on the PGA Tour since 2023.
McIlroy said that organisers had “really taken on board what the fans have been calling for and have wanted”. He went on to say that “they’ve taken a big swing, and conceptually, I think I really like it.”
The switch will be part of wider changes to the PGA Tour that will see a much shorter regular season. There will be Championship and Challenger “divisions”, with promotion and relegation between the two in an attempt to create greater jeopardy.
We will need to see how this all plays out in practice, but it should be interesting. Certainly, the use of matchplay for the Tour Championship will be fun, with the great excitement of the Ryder Cup and World Matchplay Championship of yesteryear really engaging fans.