Just three days after winning his first title of the year in Australia, a jet-lagged Rory McIlroy is looking forward to one last tournament before he puts his clubs away for a well-earned rest.

The Northern Irishman has ended a largely frustrating 2013 campaign by producing good form in recent events and would dearly love to sign off on a triumphant note at this week’s Northwestern Mutual World Challenge hosted by Tiger Woods.

“I’m happy this is the last event of the year,” world number six McIlroy told reporters at Sherwood Country Club in California.

“It will be nice to have a few weeks off. This last part of the season was all about trying to build momentum going into 2014, and I feel like for the most part I’ve done that.

“A couple of good finishes in Asia and I got a win in Australia. I’d love to get myself in the mix this week and finish the season off on a really high note.”

McIlroy was delighted to end his title drought with a one-shot victory over Adam Scott at the Australian Open on Sunday, but felt he did not need that win for any form of validation.

“Did I need the win? Probably not,” McIlroy said.

“Was it nice to get the win? Of course. But I felt like I saw enough good golf in there to know that it was very close, and it wasn’t going to be long before I did win.”

Probably the biggest test for McIlroy this year has been with his mental approach to the game as he continued to battle poor form after ruling the golfing roost in 2012.

Asked if he was in a good mood this week as he prepared for the opening round at Sherwood, McIlroy smiled: “Yeah, I’m in a great mood. I’m happy.”