Rory McIlroy looking for an early win

Rory McIlroy admits he is looking to get an early win under his belt this season as he prepares for the familiar challenge of the Dubai Desert Classic this week.

The US Open champion almost got his year off to the perfect start in Abu Dhabi two weeks ago, but eventually finished runner-up toRobert Rock in his first competitive outing of 2012.

A two-shot penalty in the second round ultimately proved costly for the Ulsterman, but he is hoping to put the frustration of that near miss behind him in the closing leg of the European Tour’s Desert Swing.

Despite still being just 22 years of age, McIlroy will be making his seventh appearance at the event in Dubai this week and will be looking for another big performance having followed his maiden Tour victory there in 2009 with top-10 finishes the past two seasons.

“I’ve spent a good bit of time here in the past and, after playing in Abu Dhabi, spent the week here practicing, working on my game and I’m looking forward to this week,” he told reporters.

Memories

“This is my seventh Dubai Desert Classic, I’ve played every year since ’06 and I’ve obviously got good memories of here from winning in ’09 and being in contention the last couple of years.

“I feel like it’s a golf course that I play well on and, hopefully, I can play well on it again.

“In Abu Dhabi I scored very well and was able to get myself in contention which was great.

“But I felt like I needed to work on a couple of things last week, which I did, and it feels like they’re getting better.

“It’s always nice to start off the season like that, I feel like I had a great chance to win and didn’t quite do it, but it would be great to get a win under my belt pretty early this season and try and win here, a place that I’ve won at before, and a course I really enjoy to play.”