Rory McIlroy tips Graeme McDowell in title race

Both McIlroy and McDowell are playing at the UBS Hong Kong Open this week with the latter trailing Kaymer by 324,162 on the European Tour money list.

While a win at the Fanling Golf Club will not be enough to send McDowell top of the standings, it will put him within touching distance ahead of the season-ending Dubai World Championship next week.

"Graeme has been playing great, Martin has as well, but I think Graeme has got the edge a little bit," said McIlroy, who knows exactly what McDowell is going through at the moment having been in the same position himself just 12 months ago.

The Ulsterman was behind Lee Westwood in the Race to Dubai and his second-place finish in Hong Kong was enough to move him top of the order. However, Westwood went on to win the Dubai World Championship to be crowned Europe's No 1, and McIlroy believes the fact McDowell cannot supplant Kaymer in Hong Kong regardless of how he performs could actually work in his favour.

"I was chasing Lee here this time last year and I finished second and went above him," he added. "It was nearly a bad thing, though, because when you are chasing, more than likely all you think about is trying to win tournaments."

McIlroy, meanwhile, has his own reasons for wanting to perform well this week as he looks to make it third-time lucky at the tournament. He lost out to Lin Wen-tang in a play-off in 2008 and then finished second to Gregory Bourdy 12 months later.