Northern Ireland golf genius Rory McIlroy won the World Golf Championship Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio by two shots from the hapless Sergio Garcia, who has now finished second to McIlroy twice in two weeks. Tiger Woods withdrew from the tournament.

"I've never won a World Golf Championship," said McIlroy. I've got three majors but never won one of these. That's another thing I'll knock off the list."

He also said being ranked first in the world again was critical for him. "World No. 1 is a big goal of mine. There's a lot of stuff still to play for.”

"What I'm really proud of this week is following up The Open with a performance like this," McIlroy told CBS' David Feherty. "I said straight after I didn't want any letdown. To perform like this I'm pretty satisfied."

McIlroy has now truly put his woes of recent years behind him: his broken engagement, switch to Nike and management problems now seem far behind him as he defeated Garcia by two shots.

But the man who is suffering the most is Tiger Woods, once king of the jungle, now reduced to a lesser species as the Irishman wins all before him. With Tiger no longer burning bright, McIlroy carries the flame.