McIlroy came out on the final day four shots ahead, and extended his overnight lead with a birdie on 10, only to blow his chances by shooting four over par in the final round.
The 21-year-old Northern Irishman, who let a four-shot lead slip in the final round of the Masters last weekend, had been three shots ahead of the rest with four holes of his third round to play in Malaysia, but by the 12th hole of his final round he trailed leaders Gregory Bourdy of France and Italian teenager Matteo Manassero by three.
A double-bogey at the par-four 12th set him back to one under for the round up to that point, with a similar third-round setback at the 15th allowing Manassero and Sweden's Alexander Noren to finish in the lead heading into the final round.
"At this moment I'm pretty disappointed but it was a good week," he said."I'm proud of the way I have picked up myself from last week," a philosophical McIlroy told reporters.
"To shoot the scores I did considering the travel and stuff, it was a pretty good effort. Obviously the result was disappointing but everything else was positive."
McIlroy, who came into the tournament after a thirty-hour journey from Augusta, praised the performance of Manassero.
"Matteo is fantastic. He is a great talent - to get two wins on the European Tour before your 18th birthday is pretty special," said McIlroy, who won his first tour event aged 19.
"He is great and we've known he is a great player. He deserves it."
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