Rory McIlroy is keen to continue his "incredible journey" in Dubai by winning a record-breaking fourth title at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic.
The World Number Two claimed a maiden Rolex Series triumph at this event 12 months ago, matching Ernie Els' record of three victories at Emirates Golf Club.
That took his tally of wins in the Emirate to five, having made his debut at this event in 2006 and claimed his first victory three years later.
He also has two wins at the DP World Tour Championship and only narrowly missed out on a victory at last week's Dubai Invitational.
With that record, it is no surprise the former Dubai resident feels right at home, and he is delighted to be back in a place and on a layout that has played a big part in his career.
"I feel like this tournament has been a sort of staple in my life for at least half of it," he said.
"I've been coming back to this tournament for 18 years, so over half my life. So wonderful memories of Dubai.
"I feel like it was a place that gave me one of my first opportunities to come out and play on this tour. My first sponsor was from here. My first win was here.
"A lot of firsts for me in this region so it's been an incredible journey and I'm always excited to get back to Dubai with the success that I've had here on this golf course and over at Jumeirah Golf Estates too at the end of the year.
"I've always liked kicking my year off here. It's a familiar place for me and I feel like if I can play well here, it's a really good sort of stepping stone to the rest of the year."
McIlroy followed his win here last season with another Rolex series victory at the Genesis Scottish Open, adding to his four Major Championships, three World Golf Championships and six national opens.
With a CV like that, it would be easy to forgive McIlroy for only aiming for the biggest prizes but he insists he is hungry to win every event in which he tees it up, although Majors are still very much at the forefront of his thinking.
"Winning is winning and competing is competing and it doesn't matter whether it's the Dubai Desert Classic over here or whether it's the Honda Classic or whatever it is. I love competing. I love to try to win golf tournaments," he said.
"Majors are really, really important in this game but it's not the only thing that matters in my mind and there are other things.
"I would love to get my hands on another one and I think mostly because I have done everything else there is to do in the game since I last won a Major championship. So to me, it's like the last step on this journey that I've been on this last few years is just getting my hands on another Major trophy."
A victory at last week's Dubai Invitational would have been his 17th on the DP World Tour but he missed out by one shot to Tommy Fleetwood after a roller coaster week.
After starting with a 62, McIlroy recorded a quadruple-bogey on day two and found water on the sixth in his final round before three-putting the 14th from two feet.
He still held a one-shot lead teeing off on the 72nd hole but found the water again and registered a bogey, allowing Fleetwood to triumph with a brilliant gain on the last.
"You're going to make some of those mistakes early on and it's good to play an event like last week where you can learn from them and try to put those things right this week," he said.
"I would have loved to have won last week but even with all those mistakes I made, the fact that I still had a one-shot lead going down the last, it says to me that my game is in really good shape, and I should be quite excited for this week.
"Brush up a bit on the game management, be a little tighter mentally with some of the stuff and apart from that, I hit the ball well. I felt like I putted well for the most part and if I do the same again this week on a golf course that I know really well, I should have a good chance."
