Can Rory McIlroy’s changed putting grip hold up at an Oakmont U.S. Open?

When the three best PGA Tour players took the field at the Memorial earlier this month, it was anyone’s guess as to which one would emerge victorious.

Come Sunday night at Muirfield Village, it was not Jason Day, Jordan Spieth or Rory McIlroy at the top of the leaderboard, as the big boys all ceded that spot to journeyman William “Dirt” McGirt. It was the world No. 3, however, who seemed, more than the guys ahead of him in the rankings, to preserve the momentum he gained from his first win of the season two weeks earlier at the Irish Open.

When the dust settled at Jack Nicklaus’ event, McIlroy was the sole representative of the trio the golf world desperately wants to embrace as the “Big 3” to finish in the top 10. His final-round 4-under 68 was enough to lift the four-time major winner into a tie for fourth, which matched his best outcome on the PGA Tour so far in 2016, the others coming in match play at the end of March and at Quail Hollow early last month.

No doubt, McIlroy’s long game was fine; he was first in strokes gained off the tee, seventh in driving distance, and 15th in accuracy.

“I’m hitting the driver great,” he said after his final round of the Memorial. “I think it more comes from confidence than anything else that I can stand on the tee box and aim right down the middle of the fairway and swing as hard as I can really.”

But it was his short game — specifically his putting, which had been such a sore spot when he changed putting grips — that had to imbue confidence in the 27-year-old as he headed into this week’s U.S. Open. He came in third in strokes gained putting after ending the left-hand-low experiment and switching back to a conventional approach.

“Off the tee I was really good this week, and I feel like my putting improved quite a lot,” said McIlroy, who was 122nd in the all-important SG:putting category entering the week. “I feel like, if you look at the stats from my putting this week, it’s actually been really good … Time to get ready for Oakmont.”

McIlroy, who won his first major in record fashion at the 2011 U.S. Open, said he made the grip change to give himself “a little bit more feel and … visualization” on the brutally fast greens at Oakmont that Justin Thomas predicted could turn the national championship into an episode of Survivor.

For sure, the fastest greens in the world are not the only factors that make Oakmont a beast that yielded a 5-over winning score to Angel Cabrera in 2007, the last time the Pittsburgh club hosted the national championship. McIlroy has already predicted that 3-over will take it this year.

“I’d sign for even par right now for 72 holes, given the history,” Spieth said after 27 holes of practice at Oakmont in May.

There are the 210 bunkers, some of them as steep and penal as any pothole the British Open can offer. U.S. Open-ready rough, as thick and juicy as any in the tournament renowned for torturing wayward drivers, may well make Titleist the No. 1 lost ball in golf.

“I really think it is the hardest golf course we’ve ever played,” Phil Mickelson, who’s still seeking his first U.S. Open triumph after a record six runner-up finishes, said from last week’s final Oakmont tuneup in Memphis.

Those greens, though.

They’re hard, slicker than the bikini-waxed putting surfaces at Augusta National, severely sloping, and likely to run between 14 and 14.5 on the Stimpmeter, according to USGA executive director Mike Davis.

“Nobody will finish,” Nicklaus said from his tournament after learning about the expected velocity of the greens. “It would be a really tough golf course at that speed.”

While the overall conditions ought to make this week’s tilt enormously enjoyable for the viewing audience, Paul Azinger believes it will be anything but that for the contestants.

“I don’t think it’s going to be that fun a week for the players,” the 1993 PGA champ and newly-installed Fox Sports analyst said during a conference call last week. “In the end, it’s about the greens. They’re the fastest in the world. You can’t really predict when the ball’s going to stop rolling there.”

Which brings us back to Rory. His driving is in good shape, and he seemed to have his pre-Oakmont flat stick under control.

It remains to be seen, though, whether McIlroy’s confidence will be rewarded after a week of putting for birdie and perhaps being thankful to walk away with bogey on the most challenging greens in the game.