Rory McIlroy laughed off a suggestion that playing against him on the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai is like any football team taking on his beloved Manchester United at Old Trafford.

“Hopefully not,” he said of that claim at a time when the Red Devils are languishing near the bottom of the English Premier League and manager Michael Carrick is in danger of losing his job.

But, with three wins under his belt, two second-place finishes and five other top-five finishes on the Greg Norman-designed course, there’s no denying that McIlroy is feeling quietly confident heading into this week’s $10 million DP World Tour Championship.

Bidding to land the Race to Dubai title for the fifth year in a row and eighth time in total, which would equal Colin Montgomerie’s record, McIlroy trails young Spaniard Eugenio Chacarra by 534 points heading into the season finale.

placeholder image — Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy speaks to the media during a press conference ahead of the DP World Tour Championship Dubai. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

Others still in the race include American Patrick Reed, winner of the Hero Dubai Desert Classic back in January, and Spaniard Jon Rahm, who landed the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship at Yas Links at the weekend.

It’s McIlroy, though, who is Chacarra’s biggest danger and the world No 2 is licking his lips at being back at a happy hunting ground in the desert as he bids to join Montgomerie in the record books.

“Yeah, I'm very excited to be back here and very excited to be in contention for the eighth,” said the Holywood man. “I made some ground up last week (by finishing third behind Rahm in the first of two big-money Play-Off events).

"Maybe not as much as I wanted, but I felt like it was a step in the right direction.

“And, yeah, getting back to a place where I’ve played well and I’vr had a lot of success. Even last year in the play-off with Matt [Fitzpatrick], it's been a course that's been very good to me over the years, and I have a lot of experience on it and a lot of experience up at the top end of the leaderboard. Experience going out in that final group on a Thursday.

“So excited to do it all over again and try to play well enough to give myself a real chance at the weekend.”

McIlroy first lifted the Harry Vardon Trophy in 2012 before repeating the feat in both 2014 and 2015 then, more recently, reeling off four in a row.

“I'll always remember the first one pretty well because of how I did it,” he recalled. “I birdied the last five holes in a row, I think.

"Justin Rose was making a big push. He finished really well. So that was a cool way to win. I had a nice battle with Andy Sullivan in 2015. That was a cool day as well.

"And then the last few years, I played well much earlier in the year where I've maybe not had to play at my absolute best to get it done, and this week's a little bit different.

“But I do go back to the first one. I think I was second in The Race to Dubai in 2009. And then I played pretty well in '10 and '11, not close enough to get it done, but to get that first one in '12, I'll remember that.”

In contrast to McIlroy, 26-year-old Chacarra, who is out in front after winning three times this season, is making just his second appearance in the season-ending event.

“Yeah, I think there's a little bit there,” replied McIlroy to being asked if his experience compared to Chacarra’s lack of experience here could prove beneficial come Sunday night.

“The course has changed and evolved a little bit over the years. It's certainly a lot more penal off the tee this year. The rough is very, very thick. You get a lot of bad lies in the rough.

“But I think when you come back to a golf course that you played a lot on and you've done well on, that always gives you a little bit of an advantage starting the week.”