Rory McIlroy: You must believe you are the best. I do Donald is the epitome of quietly confident. And there is little wonder in that, considering the validation from his peers. In a poll of European Tour players, 95 per cent named the Englishman as "player of the year," an award he picked up on Tuesday. McIlroy did not get a look-in. To be fair, the 23 year-old is anything but dismissive of Donald. During the past three months the world No1 tag has switched between the pair five times. In that time, the mutual respect has grown. While Donald yesterday talked of McIlroy's "free-flowing effortless swing," McIlroy crooned about his rival's "unbelievable consistency," saying: "Nobody played as well as Luke for the whole 12 months, he fully deserved that award." McIlroy's consistency was almost hard to fathom, although he still sees a personal shortfall. "It's all about finding that capability when you're not playing to your best to come out on top," he said, bowing to Donald's victory here last year, which was marked more by perseverance than quality. That's what I'm trying to learn. Wentworth has been a steep learning curve for McIlroy. A fifth place three years ago was followed by a 48th and a tie for 24th. Is this a course that does not fit his eye? "No, this one's OK," he said, with reference to Sawgrass, where he missed his third cut in succession at the Players Championship a fortnight ago. This is a golf course I love. I've been coming here to watch the World Match Play since I was 10. I remember when I was 12, staying with the Torrance family and playing this course every day for a week. I have some great memories of this place. So enamoured was the boy with the Surrey layout, his parents "used to drop me on the first at 8am and I didn't see them until 6pm." "It was great, it is great," he said. This event has so much tradition and history that every European wants to win it. McIlroy senses this could be his year. "The few changes have improved the playability of this course," he said. You are going to see lower scores, which the fans will enjoy. I certainly will. It would be great if I could be a part of a finish like last year; numbers one and two coming down the stretch. If that happens, McIlroy will see only one winner.