Rory McIlroy hopes for a successful end to the 2012 European Tour season in Dubai

Rory McIlroy is keen to cap a successful season with victory in this week's lucrative DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, in his last event before making a big-money change of clubs.

McIlroy heads an elite field of 57 players at the Jumeirah Golf Estates, with 28 of the season's winners in attendance, but the European Tour Order of Merit has already been secured by the Northern Irishman.

More than £6m in prize money is on offer and McIlroy hopes he is well placed to put last week's disappointing missed cut in Hong Kong behind him with a fifth 2012 title.

"Obviously Hong Kong wasn't the week that I wanted, but at least it gave me the chance get to Dubai a bit earlier and work on a few things," McIlroy said.

"I definitely needed to work on my putting a little bit, because I feel like I'm still hitting the ball well, I just haven't holed enough putts over the past two weeks. I was maybe also a little bit tired, mentally and physically.

"I think if I was completely fresh, I wouldn't have made the mistakes I did in Hong Kong last week. So in some ways, even though I obviously wanted to defend my title in Hong Kong, maybe having the weekend off worked out for the best, as it gave me the chance to rest up and recharge the batteries.

"It's already been an amazing season, and hopefully I can round it off in style in Dubai this week.

"Obviously I'm very proud and very honoured to win the Race to Dubai. I've had four goes at it and came close a couple of times, so it's great to be able to do it and it's been a phenomenal year."

Equipment deal

McIlroy also spoke for the first time about his impending change of equipment, with his association with Titleist ending after Dubai as he prepares for a deal worth a reported £150 million with Nike.

Plenty of people have already had their say about whether the move will be good or bad for the world number one, but he insists he will not make any difference to his performances in 2013, after already testing out some of his new gear.

"I'm still playing with my Titleist clubs - this is the last week - but I've tinkered about a little bit with the new ones, enough to feel comfortable going into next season," McIlroy said.

"I think all the manufacturers make great equipment nowadays and it's all very similar - a lot of them get their clubs made at the same factories. I don't think it will make any difference.

"I've started the process of trying a few new things."

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