McIlroy leads South Africa's Thriston Lawrence in the European tour's Race to Dubai standings and needs a top-10 finish this week to guarantee a sixth title, which would draw him level with the late Seve Ballesteros and bring him to within two of Colin Montgomerie's record haul.
Like most of golf's top players, McIlroy spends the majority of his season on the PGA Tour.
"I probably went a few years without prioritising it [the Race to Dubai] and [I] sort of regret that, I think I'd be a little closer to Monty than I am," he added.
"But it's a huge honour. Every time that I come back and play on this tour, I'm proud to be a member and proud to support it as much as I can. If I was to win the Race to Dubai for a sixth time, that would be a really cool achievement."