McIlroy, 22, first appeared at the Dubai tournament as a precocious 16-year-old in 2006 and won the event in 2009 for his first European Tour win.

The Briton then bounced back from an agonizing near-miss at last year’s US Masters to romp to a record eight-shot triumph at the US Open.

“I feel like I’ve definitely matured a lot this past year as a golfer and probably just as a person as well,” Northern Irishman McIlory told reporters on Wednesday at the Majlis course in Dubai.

“I feel like I can play more controlled golf when I need to. When you’re not playing as well, you need to know your limitations, reel it back in a little bit and play the percentages a bit more.”

This approach worked for McIlroy at January’s Abu Dhabi Championship where only a two-stroke penalty denied him victory.

“I don’t feel like the golf that I played in Abu Dhabi deserved to win,” said McIlory.

“I scored very well and was able to get myself into contention, which was great.”

McIlroy was paired with 14-times major winner Tiger Woods in three out of four rounds in Abu Dhabi and he was full of praise for the former world No. 1.

“I’d spent a little bit of time with him before that, but not as much as I did then,” said McIlroy.

“It was nice to play with him, and I felt pretty relaxed out there in his company, and we chatted the whole way around.”

Woods has sunk to 18th in the world rankings and has not won a major since the 2008 US Open, suffering a collapse in form in the wake of revelations about his private life.

But he looked close to hitting top form after taking a share for third in Abu Dhabi and plays in this week’s Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in California.

“Pebble at this time of the year can be a bit of a lottery, with the weather and you’ve got the three courses, so you don’t really know what to expect,” said McIlroy.

“But he’s got a great record at Pebble. What I’ve seen of him in Abu Dhabi, it looks like he’s well on his way to returning to some great form.”