Rory McIlroy commits to his first Italian Open at Marco Simone

Rory McIlroy just captured the PGA Tour’s 2022 Tour Championship, yet he’s not taking much time off.

McIlroy, who Sunday became the first golfer to win three FedEx Cups, will head across the pond and play three times in four weeks, including a stop at Marco Simone Golf Club in Rome, which is hosting the 2023 Ryder Cup. The course is also hosting the 2022 Italian Open from Sept. 15-18, and McIlroy is slated to make his tournament debut.

“I have a whopping one week off coming up and then I go to Europe for three out of four weeks, playing quite a bit over there,” McIlroy said after winning in Atlanta on Sunday. “But maybe that’s a little less intense than what we’ve just been through the last three weeks in the Playoffs here.

“Again, I think when you win and when you do things, it energizes you more than anything else. It makes you want to do it more.”

McIlroy won three times during the Tour’s 2021-22 season, including a come-from-behind victory in the Tour Championship, and he finished in the top eight of all majors this calendar year.

Now, he’s heading to Europe, where in two weeks he’ll tee it up at Wentworth in the BMW PGA Championship on Sept. 8-11. He’s also set to play in the Alfred Dunhill Links, Sept. 29-Oct. 2.

McIlroy is also in position to win the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai, the season-long points race. He’s in first by more than 300 points. He has won the title three times but not since 2015.

“Look, it’s been a long few weeks and I’m looking forward to just chilling for a few days, but yeah, it gets you excited to get out there and play again because you’re playing well and you want to have this feeling more often,” McIlroy said.