Young Northern Irishman McIlroy blew the golfing world away with his remarkable eight-shot triumph at the Congressional last month and he is the focus of attention at Royal St George’s.

“Rory is at the forefront of a lot of people’s minds and rightly so,” Donald told reporters as cold and blustery winds took a bite out of Sandwich on Tuesday.

“He was impressive in the US Open and winning majors is a big deal. He did it and did it in great fashion.

“I’m sure a lot of the attention is on him and maybe a little bit more of the pressure as well.”

Donald, who has stormed to the top of the rankings by winning the WGC-Accenture Match Play in Arizona, the PGA Championship at Wentworth and last week’s Scottish Open, said the No. 1 tag had nothing to do with his mindset at a major.

“I’ve always wanted to win a major since I turned pro, even before that when I was growing up and watching some of my idols — Nick Faldo, Seve Ballesteros and the like,” said the 33-year-old Englishman.

“It doesn’t really change whether I’m ranked No. 1 or No. 100.”

Donald said his self-belief soared after his victory in Arizona in February.

“The win at the World Match Play was a big key for me,” he explained. “I hadn’t won recently other than a small event at the Madrid Masters in 2010.

“I hadn’t really won for a number of years and it was becoming tougher and tougher. But as soon as you get that one (big) win it kind of opens the door, it gave me a lot of confidence and I’ve been playing very well since then.”

Donald was one of several competitors given a buffeting by the winds during practice on Tuesday and he said the player who could scramble best this week may walk away with the Claret Jug.

“I think the guy that can scrap it around and make pars from off the green, hole some long putts and kind of keep the momentum going, especially when it’s very tough like it was today, that’s the key to playing well,” he said.

“Today it really tested everything. Getting the ball in the hole, putting well and getting up and down from missed greens is extremely important.”

Donald gave a graphic illustration of how difficult it was to control the ball.

“I hit a seven-iron from 119 yards today on one hole just because if you hit anything hard it gets up in the wind and it gets blown away,” said the Ryder Cup stalwart.

“Today would have been a good day to grind out pars.”

Meantime, Phil Mickelson plans to relax and enjoy the British Open this week and, judging by his appalling 20-year record in the sport’s oldest major, it seems as good as an approach as anything he has tried before.

Mickelson is undoubtedly one of the best players of the modern era and but for the presence of Tiger Woods would have won considerably more than the near-50 tournaments on his already impressive stat sheet.

The American can still point to three Masters wins, a US PGA, five second or joint-second places in the US Open and more than $62 million in prize money, not to mention eight appearances for his country in the Ryder Cup.

Yet when it comes to the British Open, the graceful left-hander with a touch of genius in his wedge is somehow transformed into a Sunday morning hacker.

In 17 Opens Mickelson has finished in the top 10 only once, third at Troon in 2004, and has had only five finishes inside the top 25.

At St Andrews his roll of dishonor reads 40th, 11th, 60th and (last year) 48th. He failed to make the cut at his two Carnoustie Opens while his only previous appearance at Royal St George’s in 2003 produced a 13-over-par tie for 59th.

“I’m entering this year kind of like a fresh start,” Mickelson told a news conference after a breezy morning practice round on Tuesday. “I’m not going to worry about past performances and I’m going to try to learn and enjoy the challenge of playing links golf and I’m having fun doing that.

“I’m trying to pretend like it’s my first time here. I’m trying not to dwell and don’t want to look back on my past performances that haven’t been what I expect. I’m not trying to fix any past poor play.

“I feel excited and kind of reinvigorated to come over here and try to learn this style of golf and play it effectively.”

Mickelson, whose first crack at the Open came when he tied 73rd as an amateur at Birkdale 20 years ago, said he had been working hard to identify why he has consistently struggled.

“I’m really coming to enjoy and appreciate the challenge that links golf provides. I haven’t necessarily done it very well but I’ve enjoyed it,@ said the 41-year-old.