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Recent victories have been Tiger-like - McIlroy

Rory McIlroy won in dramatic fashion in Hong Kong © Getty Images

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Rory McIlroy believes there has been a Tiger Woods-esque quality about his two most recent professional victories, believing he has shown he can triumph even when he isn't playing his best.

The US Open champion kept alive his hopes of beating Luke Donald in the European Tour's Race to Dubai this season, after clinching a dramatic victory at the Hong Kong Open on Sunday - his third win of the season.

His first came by an eight-shot margin at Congressional in June - his maiden major triumph - but the second was a similarly gruelling affair at the Shanghai Masters. The world No. 2 has taken a lot of confidence from the manner of both of those victories.

"This week there's been glimpses of really, really good golf. On Friday and Saturday, I really did struggle," McIlroy said. "And to be able to win golf tournaments when you're not playing your best is what the likes of Tiger did week in, week out whenever he was winning seven, eight, nine tournaments a year, and that's something if you want to be a great player, you're going to have to be able to do that.

"I feel as if I'm learning to do that, and you know, this is a great win.

"t would be nice to walking up the last with a four-shot lead every time, but that's just not going to happen. It was nice to finish it off like this."

McIlroy, who revealed a five-kilometre run prior to his final round sparked his strong finish, noted that the world No. 3 Lee Westwood's blistering third round at the Nedbank Golf Challenge had also given him the extra fire he needed to keep chasing Donald.

"That was one of the goals going out today was to win this tournament to keep myself in with a shout next week. You know, that's very dependent on what Luke does because he's got such a big lead; if I can somehow get myself into contention next week, you never know," he said.

"Another little bit of motivation was I woke up and saw Lee Westwood shoot 62 in Sun City, and I thought I really needed to win to stay above him in the world rankings. It was nice to be able to do both."

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