McIlroy at ease with tweaked putting stroke heading into U.S. Open

Conventional grip or cross-handed, Rory McIlroy's confident with the state of his golf game with the U.S. Open quickly approaching.

McIlroy, who shot a 68 on Sunday at Memorial to wrap his first tournament since switching back to a traditional putting grip at 13-under par, explained after the round that his ball striking is what matters most.

"I've never relied on my putting to play my best golf,'' he said, via ESPN. "Obviously, when you're winning tournaments, you need to hole a few putts, but I'd be way more comfortable changing my putting grip week to week than I would trying to tinker with my swing or do something with my long game.''

Having led the tournament in distance off the tee, averaging a whopping 303 yards, it's easy to pinpoint the source of McIlroy's confidence. But the World No. 3 is feeling good on the greens, too.

"I feel like my putting improved a lot,'' he said. "If you look at the stats from my putting, I feel like it's been really good. So all things considered, it's been a decent week.

"Time to get ready for Oakmont.''

McIlroy will begin preparations for the season's second major championship at the tournament venue itself. He has practice rounds booked at Oakmont, a course he's never played, for Monday and Tuesday.