Rory McIlroy heads to next week's DP World Tour Championship with the aim of finishing the year as the world No 1.
The current world No 2 will tee it up at the Jumeirah Estates holding only a slim chance of retaining the Race to Dubai; Henrik Stenson leads the standings, with Danny Willett in second.
McIlroy is now down to fourth after Alex Noren overtook him in light of his victory in the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa on Sunday.
But the Northern Irishman has a different target in his sights, namely overhauling Jason Day at the top of the world standings - something he can achieve with victory in Dubai.
He said: "I still have a lot to play for this week. I think if can win, I will finish the year as world No 1 so that's huge incentive and that would make that Christmas break that much nicer, if I can finish the year on a high."
When asked if he now regretted missing the Turkish Airlines Open last week, he said: "No, not not all. As I said before if I hadn't won the Fedex Cup then maybe it would have been a different scenario but I have won the Race to Dubai before and hopefully I can win it again.
"I think Henrik is the favourite this year. He is the guy that is playing well and has got the form. I think this course suits him better than Danny, he hits the ball higher which is always an asset round here."