Rory McIlroy revealed his focus at the Dubai Invitational was to prepare himself for the opening Rolex Series event of the 2026 DP World Tour season at next week's Hero Dubai Desert Classic.
The World Number Two held an 18-hole lead at Dubai Creek Resort on his first start of the campaign and briefly sat in a five-way tie at the top during the final stretch on Sunday.
After two bogeys and one gain during his opening seven holes, McIlroy reeled off five straight birdies to join the logjam at the summit before closing with a dropped shot.
He eventually finished two shots behind winner Nacho Elvira at eight under for a share of third, which extended his extraordinary record in the United Arab Emirates to seven victories, eight runner-up finishes and 37 top-tens.
"I wasn't really focused on winning the tournament," McIlroy admitted.
"I was just trying to piece it together and make some good swings and try to hit a few more fairways, which I did for the most part.
"Would have been nice to hit the fairway at the last to give myself a chance for birdie there. Overall, it was a good first week back.
"I felt like I learned a lot of stuff about my game. I wasn't very sharp, but hopefully I'm a little bit sharper going into next week than I was going into this week.
"I was just trying to sort of get the most out of what I had. Obviously I didn't get off to the greatest of starts. I hit a couple good tee-shots, good iron shot into the eighth hole, a couple good shots into nine, converted that.
"I don't think I'm hitting the club that badly. It's just maybe some strategy off the tee.
"I was hitting driver a lot this week, more for practice than anything else. Next week at the Emirates, it's obviously important to get the ball in the fairway and give yourself chances from there.
"I think that was maybe a little bit of distance control. Felt like I was figuring that out as the week went on, but short game and putting felt good, which is a really good sign.
"Just tidy up the ball-striking a little bit, and I'll hopefully be right there next week."
Daniel Hillier was among the five players battling for victory on the final day after carding an eagle and four birdies in his flawless 65 to set the clubhouse target of nine under.
Elvira birdied the penultimate hole to nudge ahead before calmly rolling in the final par to clinch the one-shot triumph as the New Zealander settled for solo second.
Hillier said: "To be honest, at the start of the week I was chatting with (Ryan) Foxy, and we had a couple of nine-hole matches and he said 'why can't you be like this when you're playing in a tournament?'.
"Just pretend I was playing a little nine-hole match against the golf course, and yeah, basically taking it one shot at a time. For the most part, happy days."
