Just like at the Open Championship two weeks ago, Rory McIlroy slipped by Sergio Garcia to claim the win at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club.

Garcia held the lead for two rounds after he blitzed the back nine on Friday with an eight-under-par 27. His back nine included eight birdies and a lone par. He took only 11 putts in his last 11 holes over the difficult South Course at historic Firestone.

The 27 added to his front nine one-under-par 34 totaled a nine-under-par 61 and vaulted him into the lead after 36 holes.

A three-under-par 67 on Saturday kept in the lead by three shots heading into the final round.

McIlroy was paired with Garcia in the last group out on Sunday. He immediately got Garcia’s attention by erasing his lead with three consecutive birdies at Nos. 1-3. He added another birdie at No 5 and the two were tied for the lead through nine holes.

Garcia could not manage even a single birdie on the very same nine holes that had yielded eight birdies on Friday. McIlroy added a lone birdie at No. 11 and Garcia bogeyed the par-3 No. 15 for the two-shot differential.

With this win plus the Open Championship, McIlroy jumps over Adam Scott to reclaim the No. 1 spot in the world ranking, while Garcia moves into third.

McIlroy also moves to No. 3 in the FedEx Cup with over $5.1 million in total earnings.

What a difference a year makes.

Last year besieged with lawsuits, club changes and girlfriend issues, he finished the year at No. 49 in the FedEx Cup and did not even make the Tour Championship Finals.

McIlroy appears to be hitting on all cylinders right now and even he admits that he is much more mature and focused than when he had his superb year in 2012.

With Tiger Woods on the mend again and Phil Mickelson not performing at his best, the tour needs a marquee performer like McIlroy to take charge and impress golf fans.