Rory McIlroy said he remains unhappy with his swing heading into the season-ending Tour Championship, despite finishing third at the BMW Championship, four strokes behind winner Wyndham Clark.
McIlroy had described his game as "so far away" from where it needed to be after a forgettable week at the FedEx St Jude Championship, where he finished 66th in a 68-man field. He produced a far stronger performance in St Louis, birdieing three of the last four holes of his third round at Bellerive Country Club to close within five strokes of leader Clark and set up a final-day pairing with the reigning US Open champion.
McIlroy pulled level with Clark on the final day and stayed tied for the lead with three holes to play, but ultimately finished third, four strokes back, as Clark closed with three straight birdies to win by three shots for his third PGA Tour title of the season.
McIlroy on his game
"I'm closer [with his game] than I was at the start of the week," McIlroy said. "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."
"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," he added.
A back-and-forth final round
McIlroy capitalised on a two-shot swing at the first hole and recovered from bogeys at the fourth and seventh to post three birdies in a four-hole stretch from the eighth, pulling level after Clark played his opening 10 holes in three over par.
Clark then edged ahead with a 15-foot birdie putt at the 16th and found his own two-shot swing at the par-five 17th, making birdie there as McIlroy dropped a shot, before adding another birdie at the last to extend his winning margin over runner-up Patrick Cantlay.
"I felt like most of my game held up today," McIlroy said. "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 [Clark] and I couldn't," he said.
"We were tied there for a few holes and then when he made that putt on 16 for a two and I couldn't answer - that was obviously a huge moment in the round and in the tournament. Overall, encouraged with how I played this week and certainly something to build on going into East Lake."
A costly bogey at the 17th
Both players found the rough off the tee at the par-five 17th, where Clark elected to lay up on his way to birdie. McIlroy instead went from bunker to bunker and carded a tournament-ending bogey.
"I tried to get it up a bit too far," McIlroy said. "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."
Asked by CBS Sports whether he felt he deserved the win, McIlroy said: "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."
What's next
Clark has already won the CJ Cup Byron Nelson and the US Open this season. The PGA Tour season now reaches its climax at the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club, where only the top 30 players in the standings are eligible to compete for the FedExCup and a $10m first prize.
McIlroy is chasing a record-extending fourth FedExCup title. Live coverage of the Tour Championship begins on Sky Sports Golf on Thursday from 5pm.
