Weekly Fantasy Golf Recap: Wyndham Wins No. 3 in 2026

After Scottie Scheffler won the FedEx St. Jude Championship last week, conventional wisdom was that he had  locked up his fifth straight Jack Nicklaus Award as PGA Tour Player of the Year. Seven days later, it's still looking that way but, well, let's just say that voters should hold on to their ballots one more week.

Wyndham Clark continued his career year – one clearly worthy of POY if only Scheffler were not around – by winning the BMW Championship playoff event on Sunday at Bellerive in St. Louis for his third title of 2026.

He began the day with a five-stroke lead but clearly didn't have his best stuff and needed to fend off Rory McIlroy and others down the stretch before finishing at 17-under, three shots better than Patrick Cantlay.

The tournament was actually there for the taking for McIlroy, but he lost his touch on the greens on Sunday, botched the easy par-5 17th hole and Clark emerged from a final-round funk just in the nick of time to birdie the final three holes and shoot even-par 70.

"I wasn't really nervous," Clark told Amanda Ballionis on CBS, "I was kinda like out of it."

Later, he expanded on that cryptici thought, saying, "Yeah, man, it was a very stressful day. I just really didn't have my stuff mentally. Not that my game was off, I just kind of wasn't focused and just was making some dumb mistakes. Didn't make any putts. But I kept telling myself, hey, if you told me before the week with 10 holes to go I would have a one- or two-shot lead, I would take it. If I was tied with six holes to go, I would take it, regardless of what happened coming into the day. I think that helped keep me in the moment."

Clark and McIlroy were tied in the final group heading to 16. It was there that Clark made a 17-footer for birdie. It changed everything. On the par-5 17th, where there had been only one bogey all day, Clark birdied again. McIlroy found the rough off the tee, then a fairway bunker, then another bunker. He finally got on in 4 and two-putted for a bogey 6 on the easiest hole on the course. Suddenly, the lead was three with a hole to go and the tournament was over.

Clark also birdied 18, a fitting exclamation point.

It certainly was a frantic finish to what was for three days a master class from Clark going against the world's best golfers – though Scheffler did disclose after the tournament that he was battling hand, foot and mouth disease all week, leaving him with blisters on his hands and in his throat. Hard to grip his clubs, he considered withdrawing.

Clark and Scheffler will put the finishing touches on the Player of the Year fight this coming week at the season-ending tour Championship.

Scheffler has only two wins, but 12 top-5s. Clark has three wins, including a major at the U.S. Open and the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, but only six top-10s all season, plus five missed cuts.

If Clark won at East Lake, it's still not a certainty he would win POY over Scheffler. 

Clark, understandably, was asked on Sunday about who is the Player of the Year.

"I would say through the first three days of this event I felt like the best player in the world," he said. "Then today humbled me a little bit [laughing]. But, no, I mean, like I said, I can't argue with Scottie. I mean, he's so consistent and he's far and away the best player in the world. I'm playing good golf right now. I would love to consistently do this for a few years and then maybe answer that question."

Heck, one more win and he'd been answering it again next week.

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Patrick Cantlay
Cantlay struggled out of the gate in 2026 – he didn't have a top-10 for 2 1/2 and was putting terribly . But he never took his foot off the pedal and, in his final chance to qualify for the Tour Championship, did so with his best finish of the season. The runner-up propelled him from 43rd in points to 19th. He was one of three golfers to get into the top-30 this week, along with Gary Woodland and Robert MacIntyre. The solo second also moved Cantlay to 13th in the Presidents Cup standings. While he likely would've been named a captain's pick by Brandt Snedeker regardless, this result pretty much clinches it.

Rory McIlroy
After putting quite well across the first three days, McIlroy could not get anything to drop on Sunday. And still he was tied for the lead with three holes to go. Frankly, at the end he looked like someone who had not played a lot of golf of late and certainly not a lot of pressure golf. The solo third was McIlroy's second-best result all season, after his Masters win. He qualified for his ninth straight trip to East Lake, tops in the field of 30.

Gary Woodland
Woodland's feel-good season, which seemed like it would end a week shy of the Tour Championship, did not end. He tied for fourth to climb into the top-30 at the last possible moment. He will play East Lake for the first time in seven years.

Collin Morikawa
Morikawa also tied for fourth, his best showing since June. He began the week sixth in points for the Presidents Cup team and that's where he ended up. This was the last week to secure one of the six automatic spots on the team, and Morikawa got the final berth. This will also be his seventh Tour Championship in a row.

Chris Gotterup
Gotterup tied for fourth. He ended up seventh in points for the President Cup team, but of course will be one of the six captain's picks named by Snedeker after next week.

Robert MacIntyre
When we last saw MacIntyre, he was shooting 82 and withdrawing from last week's tournament in Memphis. So it was no small accomplishment that he came back so strong this week, tying for seventh and moving from 36th in points to 25th to get to the Tour Championship. With MacIntyre, Cantlay and Woodland moving forward to East Lake, they knocked out Kurt Kitayama, Bud Cauley and Rickie Fowler.

Scottie Scheffler
After opening with a 72 on Thursday, Scheffler disclosed that he was under the weather. But he didn't say what the issue was till Sunday evening. He ended up shooting 65-68-68 over the final three days to just miss a top-10 with a T12. Remember, he had blisters on his hands (and in his throat), making the club hard to grip. If you can tie for 12th in an elite field while battling hand, foot and mouth disease with blisters on your hands, you really should be Player of the Year.

Adam Scott
Scott tied for 16th to stay inside the top-30 and, at age 46, qualify for another Tour Championship. Justin Rose, also 46, was another shot back in a tie for 22nd and also reached East Lake. A remarkable accomplishment by both golfers.

Justin Thomas
Thomas' season, which began two months late while he recovered from offseason back surgery, ended one week earlier than he would've liked. His tie for 16th left him 43rd in the FedEx Cup point standings. He had only two top-10s all season, though they came at THE PLAYERS Championship (T8) and and PGA Championship (T4). Thomas probably will be a Snedeker captain's pick for the Presidents Cup. but it's not a certainty.

Rickie Fowler
An outstanding season for the now-37-year-old Fowler ended in disappointment. He spent much of the season inside the top-30, only to drop out at the last possible moment after tying for 37th.

Michael Thorbjornsen
Thorbjornsen's best season is over. He tied for 37th. His late-season win at the Rocket Classic perhaps put his name on Snedeker's radar for a Presidents Cup captain's pick. But he probably didn't do enough to earn one. We'll find out in a week.

Ben Griffin
The biggest loser of the week had to be Griffin. He not only tied for 44th to come nowhere near the top-30 in points, he also fell from fifth place in the Presidents Cup standings to eighth, thereby losing hold of an automatic spot. Even though he is eighth, he is far from certain to get a captain's pick after playing far worse in 2026 than he did in 2025.

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