The Northern Irish golfer finished just one shot behind winner Jacob Bridgeman at the Riviera Golf Course but is pleased with the way his game is shaping up at the start of the new season.

McIlroy said: "If you look at how I played last week [at the AT+T Pebble Beach pro-am] - the birdies I made - yes, I made a few big numbers, but I was able to cut those out this week.

"I think I only had three bogeys all week. My game feels in really good shape. I'm looking forward to getting on some Bermuda greens over the next couple of weeks.

"It's feeling good - much better than it did in Dubai - which is a big step in the right direction. I just have to keep working.

"I feel like I've got a lot out of this West Coast Swing, last week at Pebble and then here. I've got a week off to work on a few things, even though my game feels pretty much all there. I'm looking forward to Bay Hill and The Players."

McIlroy charged from six shots back before the final round to finish in a tie for second but was left to rue missed opportunities on Saturday (21.02.26).

The five-time major champion said: "I'll rue basically all 18 holes yesterday and then the front nine today, like 27 holes where I failed to capitalise on the chances I gave myself.

"Once I started to trust my reads a bit on the back nine and I went more with my first instinct, I putted a little bit better.

"I was reading too much into them, and then I'd see Jacob's putt from the other side do something, I was like, 'Oh, that looked like it went more left than he thought it would', so I'm sort of factoring that in.

"I was almost just giving them too much thought and not going with my first instinct and that sort of cost me."