Rory McIlroy: World number eight feeling at home for Dubai Desert Classic title bid

Four-time major winner Rory McIlroy hopes "good memories" of the Dubai Desert Classic will help him win the tournament for a third time this week.

The world number eight won in 2009 to secure his first professional title and tasted victory again in 2015.

"I lived in Dubai for four years as well - I have a lot of close friends from this region," said McIlroy.

"It's a very comfortable place for me and it's nice to be back. I've a lot of good memories here."

The 32-year-old from Northern Ireland started the year by finishing in a tie for 12th at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship last week.

McIlroy let slip a two-shot lead with eight holes to play to miss out on the title in his last appearance at the Dubai Desert Classic in 2018, but he boasts an excellent overall record at the Emirates Golf Course and memories include watching Tiger Woods in his pomp.

Teenage kicks

He added: "This was one of the first events I played on the European Tour back in 2006 as a 16-year-old. After one round I was able to get inside the ropes and have a media credential and watch Tiger.

"He hit a five-iron out of the right rough on 10 and stopped it on the green and, to this day, it was one of the best golf shots I've ever seen. Just sticks out in my mind and I was right there for it.

"It's a great golf course. It's a fun golf course to play, gives you plenty of opportunities to make birdies. You have the three par fives on the back nine, you have a couple of reachable par fours.

"The course, as the trees grow up, everything got claustrophobic over the years and they have sort of tried to clear that out again.

"It definitely doesn't feel as constricting as it used to and it certainly doesn't feel as constricting as even like last week [in Abu Dhabi] where you had a lot of trouble on either side of the fairways and water. There's some opportunities where you can just step up and give it a rip, which is nice."