{
  "id": 1316429,
  "title": "Rory McIlroy finds encouragement in 66th-place showing; focus turns to BMW Championship",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/16/rory-mcilroy-finds-encouragement-in-66th-place-showing-focus-turns-to",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-08-16T17:33:35.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yahoo Sports",
    "slug": "yahoo-sports",
    "url": "https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/rory-mcilroy-finds-encouragement-66th-173335802.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Memphis, Tennessee - Rory McIlroy's 66th-place finish at the FedEx St. Jude Championship seemed to suggest progress after a disappointing back-to-back round of 74-70-72-72. The world No. 2 acknowledged that his struggles at TPC Southwind last year had been linked to the course and August weather, but he found a new rhythm at this week's tournament. McIlroy stated, \"I definitely felt like I found a feel out there that might work on the golf course. I hit some better shots coming in, for sure.\" Despite initial setbacks, including a double bogey, he managed to score five birdies on the first six holes. McIlroy's decision to participate in the final two playoff events was driven by a desire to avoid missing competitive rounds since The Open in July and to meet the Tour's minimum of 15 starts. He plans to return to South Florida after the BMW Championship in St. Louis, Missouri, to work on his swing with coach Michael Bannon. McIlroy admitted that his execution was lacking during the tournament, but he remains focused on improving for the upcoming events.",
  "summary": "Back-to-back bogeys to finish his week at the FedEx St. Jude Championship seemed apropos for Rory McIlroy, who struggled to rounds of 74-70-72-72.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Yahoo Sports",
        "title": "The PGA Tour change Rory McIlroy must make in 2027 or risk being miserable about his golf game",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/14/the-pga-tour-change-rory-mcilroy-must-make-in-2027-or-risk-being",
        "published": "2026-08-14T11:00:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Golf.com",
        "title": "YouTube Golf took over. Tour pros want their piece of the pie, too",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/14/youtube-golf-took-over-tour-pros-want-their-piece-of-the-pie-too",
        "published": "2026-08-14T12:07:31.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}