22 year-old Rory McIlroy’s dominating performance in winning the U.S. Open at Congressional last weekend was plenty impressive.

However, even more remarkable is the depth that McIlroy exhibited earlier this year when he lost the Master’s by shooting an 80 during the tournament’s final round.

After accepting that demoralizing defeat as a true sportsman and gentleman, McIlroy immediately sought out Dave Stockton, who is one of golf’s most knowledgeable instructors of putting technique.

Although a few of McIlroy’s wayward drives received most of the media attention, it was actually his indecisive putting stroke on the front nine of Augusta National’s perilous greens that triggered his demise during that fateful final round.

A  couple of months of working on Stockton’s tips paid huge dividends for McIlroy during the U.S. Open. Although his ball-striking was superlative (he hit 62 out of 72 greens in regulation), McIlroy’s putting was arguably even better – he three-putted only once in 72 holes, and that three-putt came on the 71st hole after he already had the championship in the bag. Even on the unusually moist Congressional greens (at least by U.S. Open standards), that is an amazing accomplishment.

In the video below and also in this Golf Digest video, Stockton explains his basic approach and technique. And as the precocious McIlroy recognized after the disappointment of The Master’s, in golf “you drive for dough, but you putt for dough.”