Clark Stays Bogey-Free to Lead BMW Championship as McIlroy Slips Five Back
Wyndham Clark shot a flawless second round at the BMW Championship to reach 12 under par and take a one-stroke lead over Gary Woodland at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis.
Clark was the only player in the 50-man field without a bogey through 36 holes. A clean card on a par-70 layout of 7,448 yards is no small thing — one errant drive or missed green can cost a shot, and Clark has not dropped one yet. He led by one over Woodland (11 under), with JJ Spaun a further shot back at 10 under.
Rory McIlroy, who shared the first-round lead with Clark after opening with a six-under 64, could not keep pace. He carded a one-under 69 in the second round, his only blemish a bogey on the par-five eighth hole. That left him at seven under for the tournament, five shots off Clark's lead and part of a logjam that includes Collin Morikawa, Russell Henley and Matt McNealy.
The leaderboard is tightly packed behind Clark. Sungjae Im and Cameron Gotterup sit at nine under, with Patrick Cantlay and Michael Thorbjornsen at eight under. Further back, Justin Rose is at four under, while Robert MacIntyre — who led through three rounds of this event last year before Scottie Scheffler overhauled him — is at three under alongside Matt and Alex Fitzpatrick. Tommy Fleetwood is two under; Aaron Rai one under.
Scottie Scheffler, the defending champion who won the 2025 BMW Championship with a 15-under total, has had a week to forget in St. Louis. He opened with a two-over 72, sat dead last on the leaderboard at one point, and finished the first round tied for 44th in the 50-player field. A year ago he drained a six-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole to win his 21st career title. This week that sort of charge looks remote.
For McIlroy, the gap is large but not insurmountable. Five shots over 36 holes on a course yielding low scores is the kind of deficit a hot nine can erase. But Clark has given nothing away — no dropped shots, no loose holes — and the chasing pack is deep enough that making up ground means passing good players, not just waiting for the leader to come back.
The BMW Championship is the second of three events in the PGA Tour's postseason, with no 36-hole cut. Every player in the field plays all four rounds, which means no one is sent home early — and no lead is safe until Sunday evening.
