When a fiercely ambitious, heavily hyped sportsman barely out of his teens suffers the kind of disappointment Rory McIlroy endured on Sunday, tantrums might be expected.

The 20-year-old from Northern Ireland went into last week's Dubai World Championship as favourite to win the event and be crowned Europe's No1.

Instead, he was handed a lesson in applying talent and psychology to a lucrative cause by the vastly more experienced Lee Westwood, who claimed both titles and £1.65million in prize money.

Yet the impressive way in which McIlroy handled his defeat, smiling and offering due respect to his triumphant rival, did not go unnoticed.

"Certain players would have had difficulty picking themselves up, but Rory is not that type of guy," said Graeme McDowell, who tomorrow teams up with McIlroy to represent Ireland in the 55th World Cup of Golf at Mission Hills in southern China.

"Rory has unbelievable enthusiasm for the game and, given that he is so young, he relishes every opportunity. He is very mature for a 20-year-old."

Ireland have not won the World Cup since 1997, when Padraig Harrington was partnered by Paul McGinley. McDowell is convinced their time has come again on a course that will suit his big-hitting companion.

The 30-year-old Ryder Cup player said: "This is a driver's golf course and Rory is probably one of the best drivers of the ball in the world.

"Length is a key on the par fives and, while I feel I am driving it good, it is really all about gelling as a team and we can prove we can do that.

"There's a few good teams playing but, regardless of what happened to Rory in Dubai, I know we'll have a great week."

One of those good teams should be England, with Ross Fisher and Ian Poulter determined to finish November in the same way they started it.

Fisher and Poulter, who won the World Match Play and Singapore Open respectively to kick off the month, are aiming to claim England's third world title and a first since 2004.

Poulter said: "When you have four English players in the top 20 of the world rankings it shows how good English golf is at the moment, so it is about time we stepped up to the mark on the world stage."

The two friends also represented their country last year but a poor start left them well off the pace as Sweden's Henrik Stenson and Robert Karlsson claimed the honours.

They are back to defend the trophy but Karlsson missed more than four months of this campaign with a career-threatening eye condition and may struggle for form this time.

Spain, runners-up at last year's event, will again be among the teams to beat with world No8 Sergio Garcia and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano flying their flag.

But not every nation is taking the tournament seriously. Tiger Woods partnered David Duval when the United States last won the title in 2000 but this time their hopes rest on John Merrick and Nick Watney, who are ranked 139th and 31st in the world respectively.