Herbert pleased with 'promising signs' after outright third finish in Dubai

The 27-year-old climbed up the leaderboard in Monday night's final round after a near error-free six-under par (66) to wrap up the week at the Emirates Golf Club at 16-under, three shots behind winner Rory McIlroy (-19).

"I am really happy with the finish," Herbert said to the media post-round.

"I felt like I was playing for second or third going into the day as It's hard to spot Rory five shots and chase him down to win a tournament.

"I thought If I could finish second or third it would be a good day. I am pleased with this start to the year."

Sport news:

Herbert, who won the 2020 edition of the tournament, fired a 33 on the front nine before another 33 on the back.

Highlights included a chip in birdie on the par-three 11^th.

"On the back nine there are plenty of birdie chances and luckily I took advantage of a few of them," he said.

"There are some promising signs. There still feels like there's work to do and I can get better than what I produced this week.

"Good signs ahead for 2023."

McIlroy clinched his first career ever Rolex Series victory, but it didn't come easy as he and Patrick Reed were neck-and-neck for most of the final round.

However, a birdie on the par-five 18^th would see the Northern Irishman defeat the American by one stroke.

"It means a lot," McIlroy said to the DP World Tour

"It's actually funny, (caddie) Harry said to me, 'finally we get a gold bib'. Obviously I haven't won one of these big ones before.

"It was a battle all day. Honestly it's been a battle all week. I really feel like I haven't had my best all week but I just managed my game so well and played really smart.

"I feel like I showed a lot of mental strength out there today, something to really build on for the rest of the year.

"There's been a ton of positives this week but also been some things that I need to learn from and I need to try to improve on.

"I'm going to enjoy this. This is probably sweeter than it should be or needs to be but I feel like I've still got some stuff to work on. It's a great start to the year and a really good foundation to work from."

Herbert remains in the Middle East this week and will be heading across to Jeddah for the Asian Tour-backed Saudi International.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: