'Heroic effort' needed to catch Clark at BMW Championship after another 65

[p]Having started moving day just one stroke clear, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/clark-wyndham/x4NXN7qb/"]Clark[/a] left the field in his wake with six birdies, and an eagle on eight, at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, Missouri.[/p][p]The double US Open winner will enter the final day of the penultimate event of the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup playoffs on 17-under, joined in the final pair by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mcilroy-rory/djwanksN/"]Rory McIlroy[/a] on 12-under.[/p][p]"[b]Overall, awesome day,[/b]" said Clark.[/p][p]Clark's hot streak to score Saturday's joint best round was all the more remarkable given how his day began.[/p][p]After a bogey-free first two days, the overnight leader botched an ambitious shot from the lip of a fairway bunker and badly misjudged the green for a double-bogey on one.[/p][p]"[b]It was an unfortunate break... probably should have just chipped out and played for bogey,[/b]" he said.[/p][embed guid="7eda3335-425b-4434-a634-8254b4d80b74" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFJJKFvASFQ" social-type="youtube" /][p]Clark quickly regained the joint lead with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/woodland-gary/lQRqur2j/"]Gary Woodland[/a], his birdie putt just wobbling in on four, before a superb wedge from deep rough for birdie on seven.[/p][p]An eagle on eight from a pinpoint iron and 12-foot putt gave Clark a three-stroke cushion.[/p][p]And the American soared clear on the back nine, with birdies at 10 -- thanks to a 30-foot putt -- 11, 13 and 14.[/p][p]He saved par with a 15-foot putt on 16 but missed a simple five-foot birdie putt on 17 and then another par putt on the last to give the field hope.[/p][p]"[b]Got into a great groove and played amazing. I'm just a little bummed right now at how I finished on 17, 18[/b]," he said.[/p][embed guid="65012ce9-5dc6-468b-a94e-2eb42c82cb6c" url="https://x.com/Golfbet/status/2091271887846342696" social-type="twitter" /][p]With Woodland struggling, McIlroy surged into joint second. The Northern Irishman carded an entertaining 65, despite finding just four fairways all day.[/p][p]He had birdied the par-three third and escaped a wayward drive on eighth with a par after somehow bulldozing his second shot straight through both a tree and a bunker.[/p][p]Pushing the accelerator, the six-time Major champ's game sprang to life on the back nine, with five birdies -- including a 26-foot putt on 16 -- closing the gap to Clark.[/p][p]"[b]Playing this golf course from the rough isn't fun. But I hung in there. My short game saved me a couple of times,[/b]" said McIlroy.[/p][p]"[b]I'm in a good spot going into tomorrow in terms of where I'm at at the leaderboard. But it's going to take a heroic effort from one of us to catch Wyndham.[/b]"[/p][p]He added: "[b]I think you can be aggressive here.[/b]"[/p][embed guid="a3d2c791-5b74-42e9-ba4c-884ecdcfbf9f" url="https://x.com/GolfDigest/status/2091283678076846159" social-type="twitter" /][p]McIlroy was joined in second by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/cantlay-patrick/bwQM8qSt/"]Patrick Cantlay[/a], who birdied the 18th in a round of 66.[/p][p]Woodland and Chris Gotterup were a further stroke back, at 11-under, followed by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/morikawa-collin/0UlRrMgE/"]Collin Morikawa[/a].[/p][p]Woodland and Cantlay are both on the cusp of making the final field of 30 for the season-ending Tour Championship, taking place next week in Atlanta, Georgia.[/p][p]World number one [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/scheffler-scottie/bXfIuBYu/"]Scottie Scheffler[/a] -- who recovered Friday after briefly sitting rock bottom on an illness-affected opening day -- made moves in the morning, reaching six-under par.[/p][p]But he handed two shots back with back-nine bogeys, becoming frustrated as any hopes of an improbable comeback vanished.[/p][p]Scheffler finished on five-under par after a 68.[/p][embed guid="3a5b7027-222a-4b3e-accc-dcf736c024d3" url="https://x.com/JustinRayGolf/status/2091283996713816451" social-type="twitter" /]