Rory McIlroy admitted his game is still not quite where he wants it to be, after Wyndham Clark held off the Northern Irishman to win the BMW Championship.

Clark overcame the loss of a five-shot lead to claim a dramatic three-stroke victory at Bellerive Country Club, where McIlory was one of his closest contenders. 

Three bogeys in the first 10 holes of his fourth round on Sunday saw Clark reeled in by the chasing pack, and McIlroy drew level with him at the top of the leaderboard at one point.

Two-time U.S. Open champion Clark rediscovered his form when it mattered, though, as three straight birdies to finish got him back to par for his final round.

That saw him finish 17 under for the tournament, three shots better off than Patrick Cantlay. McIlroy dropped to third at 13 under for the week after dropping a stroke on the final hole.

McIlroy has not tasted victory since successfully defending his Masters crown in April, and a 66th-place finish at the FedEx St. Jude Championship last week prompted him to say he was "far away" from the required level. 

Though he still feels there is work to do ahead of next week's Tour Championship, he does feel he made visible progress in St. Louis.

"I'm closer than I was at the start of the week," McIlroy said, as quoted by Sky Sports. "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.

"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, and I couldn't."

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Collin Morikawa, Chris Gotterup and Gary Woodland shared fourth place, with Robert MacIntyre and Maverick McNealy another two shots back in a tie for seventh.

Scottie Scheffler could only manage a share of 12th place at seven under, and he revealed after his final round that he had suffered from hand, foot and mouth disease all week.

"I felt better as the week went on. I got sick Monday night – that was probably the most frustrating part," Scheffler said.

"It hit me pretty good all week. I'm still not 100% now, but I'll get some rest and hopefully that will help. I got the hand, foot and mouth. 

"So, you get blisters on your hands and in your throat and on your feet. To start the week, it was pretty painful to even grip the club."