AS RORY McIlroy’s early-season odyssey in the desert came to a close yesterday with a tied-fifth place finish in the Dubai Desert Classic, the Ulsterman was already casting his net wider to an upcoming three-week stint on the US Tour.

McIlroy (22) – who shared the halfway lead in Dubai only to falter over the weekend, finishing with a final round 71 yesterday for 274, 14 under par. This left him four shots behind winner Rafael Cabrera-Bello of Spain.

“[I’m] a little disappointed, considering the position I was in going into the weekend,” he said later. “I think all the damage was done [on Saturday].”

In yesterday’s final round, McIlroy struggled to get the pace of the greens, which had not been cut as low due to a forecast of strong winds. He started with a three-putt bogey on the first, then effectively saw his challenge disappear with a double-bogey six on the ninth. He pulled his approach from the middle of the fairway into the lake guarding the green.

Although McIlroy came home in 33 to move up to tied fifth, finishing with back-to-back birdies on the 17th and 18th, he never really got into a position to repeat his 2009 breakthrough tour win in Dubai.

“I didn’t hole any putts, but felt like I hit some pretty quality shots which was quite pleasing. I struck the ball a lot better and that’s very positive to take into the next few weeks.”

McIlroy will switch his tournament schedule to the US over the next few weeks as he builds up to a return for the Masters at Augusta in April. He has this week off before embarking on a three-week stint that takes in the WGC-Accenture Matchplay in Arizona next week, the Honda Classic and the WGC-Cadillac championship.

“The Matchplay is a nice event on a really nice course. I haven’t played that well there the last couple of years, so it will be nice to go and get a run in that and then two good weeks at Honda and Doral.”

A tournament win in Dubai would have enabled him to close the gap on world number one Luke Donald in the rankings.