Rory McIlroy says he is happy to be back playing after his recent lay-off and believes he is ahead of schedule after finishing four shots behind Tommy Fleetwood at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
Fleetwood produced a sensational back nine, making six birdies to come home in 30 shots, while McIlroy carded a final round 70 to finish on 18-under par.
McIlroy has had 16 injury-disrupted months and was pleased to put in a four solid four rounds in Abu Dhabi.
"I didn’t really know what my expectations were this week, I just wanted to get back on the golf course and play again," he said.
"I played pretty well. I feel like I did everything I wanted to do. Maybe I didn’t get the ball close enough on the back nine, but I’m happy how I played this week and it gives me confidence going into not only next week, but the few months ahead."
"I’m in a much better place than when I left the game in October"
The former world number one’s last win in the Tour Championship saw him win the overall FedEx Cup title prior to the 2016 Ryder Cup.
McIlroy now is focussed on more tournament play ahead of the eight tournaments scheduled before attempting to complete the career grand slam with victory in the Masters.
"Where I have come from in the past three months in terms of my health and golf," he said. "I’m in a much better place than when I left the game in October. I’m really happy with that."