A bogey on the ninth allowed the chasing pack to close the gap, with fellow Englishman Andy Sullivan carding his third birdie of the day on the ninth to get within a shot, with Rafael Cabrera-Bello, Alvaro Quiros and Byeong Hun An alongside McIlroy on 15 under.
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Sullivan went round in 68 and had to settle for joint second along with Rafa Cabrera-Bello of Spain.
Former victor Henrik Stenson carded six-under for 15-under to also finish tied sixth, while triple Desert Classic victor Ernie Els moved up 10 spots to end at tied 18th.
Australia’s Scott Hend finished five shots off the pace to finish in equal eighth following a final-round 69, while countrymen Brett Rumford (11-under, tied for 24th), Wade Ormsby and Nathan Holman (both ten-under, tied 26th) also impressed. “You can’t buy that feeling, coming down the back nine, the last three holes, in contention in a golf tournament”.
Yet, world number 20 Willett headed down the 18th hole in the knowledge that a birdie would clinch him the title and he duly obliged.
“I think mentally I feel like I’m very much in control of myself, which obviously helps”.
Sullivan, who finished fourth in this event previous year before again impressing in Dubai with a runner-up finish at the DP World Tour Championship in November, was Willett’s nearest rival for much of the final day. “It means when the pressure is on I can produce the goods”.
“I stayed patient and let things happen”.
“Everything I’ve done has been really good this week, and mentally I’ve been as good as I have been for a long, long time”. Despite finishing tied second, Sullivan will be pleased with the way he played during the week where he had a total of 21 birdies and just a bogey and a double bogey. “Had a lot of chances and didn’t quite take them”.
And McIlroy, who could only make a par on the par-5 18th hole, said: “It was okay I guess”.
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“I’ll rue the two front-nines I played on Friday and Saturday”. Struggling with the driver a little bit, so just want to try and work on that.
