Rory McIlroy finished 2012 on top of the world and vowed to repeat the feat next year with a little help from Nike.

McIlroy said goodbye to his Titleist clubs with victory at the end of season DP World Tour event in Dubai.

The Ulsterman pocketed a cool $2.3 million in the desert after winning the tournament and topping the European Tour order of merit.

But that is nothing compared to the $250 million he will pick up in a new 10-year sponsorship deal with Nike which kicks off in January.

The two time major winner produced five birdies in his final five holes to hold off a strong challenge from England’s Justin Rose.

McIlroy said, “To finish off the season like this and gain another 58 world ranking points puts me in a really strong position going into next year. It’s great to know that going into the off-season.

“I had a few goals starting off this year. Obviously I wanted to win a major. I think I wanted to win four times around the world, I wanted to win the Race to Dubai and I wanted to get to world number one, which I achieved earlier in the year.

“I guess every goal that I set myself at the start of 2012, I’ve achieved this year. It doesn’t really get much better than that.”

With girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki and dad Gerry by his side, McIlroy vowed to dominate the world game again in 2013.

Asked what his aims are for the new season, he said, “I guess the same. To be focused on the majors, try to win more of those. I’ve won one in 11, one in 12, it would be nice to keep that run going next year. Two majors would be even better.

“And as I said before, I just try to keep improving as a player. I feel like I can improve in different areas of the game still. That’s the challenge and the fun of practice -- trying to get better all the time.”

After struggling with illness all week in Dubai, McIlroy also acknowledged that he has improved his game over the course of 2012.

“I’ve been able to compete this year even when I am not playing my best golf and I guess that’s been the big difference this year,” he admitted.

“That’s something I said earlier in the year that I wanted to try and get better at. I felt my previous wins before this year, I’ve just played great golf and no one could really get near me in any way.

“But being able to win not with your best game is I guess what Tiger Woods has done for so many years. That’s why he’s won so many tournaments and I feel like I’m definitely not at that level quite yet but I’m learning how to do it.”