World No.1 Rory McIlroy produced a masterclass of how to protect a lead on the final day as he won his second Dubai Desert Classic title, matching the lowest winning score in the history of the tournament.
The Northern Irishman was solid in his final-round two-under par 70 on Sunday, and even though it was his worst round in four days, it was enough for his 10th European Tour title.
It was his fourth win in his last seven starts on the European Tour. The other three finishes were second places.
McIlroy tallied 22-under par 266, matching the four-day efforts of Thomas Bjorn in beating Tiger Woods in 2001 and Stephen Gallacher in 2013.
Starting the day four shots ahead, McIlroy finally won by three shots over Sweden's Alexander Noren (65).
"It was a bit of a cruise control out there," McIlroy said.
Gallacher made a spirited defence of his title, eventually finishing third at 16-under par.
The victory is expected to take McIlroy to 11.66 points on top of the world rankings, and would extend his lead over second-placed Henrik Stenson by almost four average points.
Noren was absolutely thrilled with his performance, which comes at the back of a ninth place finish in Doha last week.
"I started well but didn't really play that well around nine," he said.
"And then I got a birdie on 10, which felt nice. A little bit slower after that but then really got it going. So it was just a lovely day, lovely finish and lovely start.
"It was an amazing day, amazing week."
Richard Green was the best-placed Australia, 11 strokes back from McIlroy, after carding a final-round 69.
The European Tour next heads to Kuala Lumpur for the Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur next week.
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