Starting on the back nine at Emirates Golf Club, McIlroy had to hole from 15 feet for bogey on the 10th after finding a greenside bunker with his approach and watching his recovery attempt roll off the green and back to his feet.
The world number two also did well to scramble a bogey on the second after hooking his tee shot deep into the trees and failing to find the fairway with his second shot, but fired six birdies to finish four under par, two behind clubhouse leader Alex Noren of Sweden.
“I thought I did well considering the start and some of the shots I hit throughout the round,” McIlroy told Sky Sports.
“I felt like 68 was probably a fair reflection of how I played.
“It wasn’t the best way to start, bogeying a par five, and the bogey I made on the second hole, which is a birdie hole out here… but to bounce back and to birdie some of the tougher holes on the course, I was really pleased with that. And when I got myself out of position I was able to get back in play and make my pars.”
McIlroy started his recovery on the par-five 13th, the four-time major winner cutting his approach from 219 yards around a palm tree on the edge of the fairway and finishing just 10 feet from the hole.
The 26-year-old missed the eagle putt but tapped in for birdie and holed from eight feet for another on the next before completing the back nine in remarkable style.
McIlroy’s 329-yard drive ran through the dogleg and into a water hazard, but after taking a penalty drop he fired a long iron to seven feet and calmly holed for birdie.
A bogey on the second was followed by birdies on the third, fifth and sixth, the latter coming from a matter of millimetres after a brilliant approach from 200 yards stopped on the edge of the hole.
Noren, who was joint second behind McIlroy 12 months ago, carded six birdies in a flawless 66 to enjoy a one-shot lead over playing partner Rafael Cabrera-Bello, Australia’s Brett Rumford and South Africa’s Trevor Fisher Jnr.
Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke had held the outright lead after 13 holes, but the former Open champion played the remaining five in five over to card a disappointing 71.
Fellow Swede Peter Hanson emerged as the biggest threat to Noren’s lead, the former Ryder Cup player starting on the back nine and racing to the turn in 32 thanks to five birdies and no bogeys.
Spain’s Alvaro Quiros, who has won two of his six European Tour titles in Dubai, was a shot further back with three holes remaining after two birdies and an eagle on the 10th, with three-time champion Ernie Els on two under after 11.
After dropping his first shot of the day on the fifth, Hanson bounced back immediately with birdies on the next two holes to move into a share of the lead, only to also bogey the ninth.
That gave the 38-year-old a share of second place on five under, one ahead of Els who had birdied the 13th, 15th and 16th before finding water with his approach to the 18th to card his only bogey of the day.
