The main purpose of this paper is to describe a DTC (direct torque control) method for four-switch brushless dc motor (BLDCM) drive. In the method, a novel voltage space vector modulation scheme, an optimal switching table, and a flux observation method are proposed. Eight voltage vectors are summarized, which are selected to control BLDCM in SVPWM pattern, and an optimal switching table is proposed to improve the torque distortion caused by midpoint current of the split capacitors. Unlike conventional flux observers, this observer does not require speed adaptation and is not susceptible to speed estimation errors, especially, at low speed. Global asymptotic stability of the flux observer is guaranteed by the Lyapunov stability analysis. DC-offset effects are mitigated by introducing a PI component in the observer gains. This method alleviates the undesired current and torque distortion which is caused by uncontrollable phase. The correctness and feasibility of the method are proved by simulation and experimental results.