Northern Ireland's McIlroy was speaking to reporters in Dubai before the DP World Tour Championship as he chases a record-equalling eighth season-long title.
The six-time major winner trails Spain's Eugenio Chacarra by 533 points in the Race to Dubai standings going into the final event in Dubai, which offers 2,000 points to the winner.
Nine players - Chacarra, McIlroy, Patrick Reed, Casey Jarvis, Aaron Rai, Jon Rahm, Ryan Fox, Jayden Schaper and Daniel Hillier - can still clinch the Race to Dubai title, but McIlroy would guarantee his fifth straight crown with victory at Jumeirah Golf Estates this week.
McIlroy's excellent record at the Dubai tournament includes three wins and a play-off defeat by England's Matt Fitzpatrick last year.
"I'm very excited to be back here, very excited to be in contention for the eighth," said the 37-year-old.
"I made some ground up last week, maybe not as much as I wanted, but I felt like it was a step in the right direction.
"Getting back to a place where I played, I played well and I had a lot of success, even last year in the play-off with Matt, 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."