Rory McIlroy Must Show Putting Improvement in Round 4 of Memorial Tournament

Putting has been the clear flaw in Rory McIlroy's game recently, and it's been no different at the Memorial Tournament. 

Considering this will be his final event on the PGA Tour before the U.S. Open, is vital for him to show signs of progress on the greens during the final round on Sunday.

McIlroy shot 75 in the third round and is plus-six overall, well behind Matt Kuchar's lead of eight under-par.

The 24-year-old star is 72nd in strokes gained, putting out of 73 players in the field who made the weekend cut line at Dublin, Ohio's Muirfield Village Golf Club. No matter how well McIlroy strikes it, that's not exactly a recipe to be in the thick of contention, much less a formula for winning.

It was a bold effort to even make the cut on the plus-three number, which is what McIlroy did after saving par at the 18th to wrap up his second round early Saturday morning. His opening round of six-over 78 was unprecedentedly bad, per ESPN Stats & Info:

The second-ranked player in the world is too talented to not have any victories in 2013, but that's unfortunately how this has gone. Although his swing has caused him to spray the ball this week, he still managed to hit 12 of 18 greens in regulation in Round 3, just one less than 54-hole leader Matt Kuchar.

Entering this prestigious event hosted by Jack Nicklaus, McIlroy ranked fourth on tour hitting 71.33 percent of greens, but was just 100th in strokes gained putting. In spite of that, he still boasted relatively solid form, registering Top 10s in three of his previous four tournaments, though he did miss the cut at the European Tour's BMW PGA Championship the prior week.

Even a switch back to his Scotty Cameron putter from the Nike Method hasn't improved his results, so this is definitely a case of "operator error" rather than a lack of adjustment to new equipment.

The one aspect of Saturday that McIlroy can take solace in is that only six players managed to shoot in the 60s in the treacherous, blustery conditions. Tiger Woods shot a 79 himself—including a career-worst nine-hole score of 44—and he's a five-time champion.

But that doesn't diminish the importance McIlroy's flatstick will play for the remainder of his season. If he hopes to recapture the magic that won him both major tour money lists in 2012, it must start with the putter.

A ray of hope shined through on his last hole. After a beautiful approach, he drained the short-range birdie putt which lifted his spirits somewhat, according to Doug Lesmerises of the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

Should McIlroy hope to have a chance at the U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club for his third major championship, the putts simply have to start falling.

The Northern Irishman has been known to bounce back before, and endured a slump at this juncture of the season last year. Having said that, it's time for McIlroy to turn things around before 2013 becomes a lost cause.

Note: All statistics and information, unless otherwise indicated, are courtesy of PGATour.com.