Rory McIlroy reveals what he said to his caddie straight after shooting his lowest score of the year in Abu Dhabi

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Rory McIlroy came close to winning the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship after an incredible final round.

McIlroy started the day six shots behind 54-hole leader Aaron Rai and needed something special to be in contention.

Well, the Northern Irishman could not have done much more, as he shot a 10-under-par 62 to improve to -24 for the tournament.

Unfortunately for him, Rai and Tommy Fleetwood were one stroke better off and had a two-man playoff hole to decide the winner.

McIlroy has now revealed what he said to his caddie, Harry Diamond, when he walked off the 18th green with the clubhouse lead.

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Rory McIlroy shoots season-low 62 at Abu Dhabi Championship

Despite all of McIlroy’s success this year, he has not shot a better round than on Sunday at the Abu Dhabi Championship.

McIlroy has always enjoyed playing in the Middle East and he brought his A-game to the golf course at Yas Links on Sunday.

His performance forced both Rai and Fleetwood to make birdies in their last three holes, but both were up to the challenge.

“I got off to a really good start; I was 3-under through two,” McIlroy reflected on his day. “I hit two great shots into the first, two great shots into the second, and converted. And then I stalled a little bit on the front nine. I birdied 7 to get to 4-under.

“I played the front nine very well this week, and then it was on the back nine that I couldn’t really get anything going. But I started the back nine with getting five birdies in a row. I drove it onto the 10th green again. I hit a couple of really good wedges in that stretch and knocked them in.

“Once I was 9-under through 14, I thought, ‘Okay, if I can post a number here.’ I knew 15, 16, and 17 were playing tough back into the wind off the left. I did hit a good wedge shot on 15; I just got caught out by the wind a bit.

“16 and 17, I watched the way Aaron and Tommy played those two holes, and they played them unbelievably well. Yeah, it’s just hard to make birdies on those holes, and I knew on 18, the one thing I said to Harry walking off the green is, ‘At least we are going to make them earn it no matter what happens.’

“Obviously, I ended up one short, but a great day of golf, and a great way to end the week. And also a great way to sort of go into next week in Dubai, as well.”

Rory McIlroy feels confident ahead of the DP World Tour Championship

McIlroy can take huge confidence from his final-round 62 in Abu Dhabi into next week’s DP World Tour Championship.

The 36-year-old will be expected to put in another top performance as he looks to win his seventh Race to Dubai title.

McIlroy will face tough competition from Marco Penge, but he is in excellent form and he enjoys playing the course better than most.

“Yeah, I really like that golf course. It really suits me,” McIlroy added. “It probably suits me a little bit better than this course does this week, just in terms of what you need to do off the tee and into the greens.

“Yeah, look, this was a great confidence-builder this week, coming off a couple of weeks off, and hopefully just produce more of the same next Thursday and onwards.”