Martin Kaymer is hoping to find some momentum when he tees it up at this week's Italian Open with the Ryder Cup now just 16 days away.
The German is not exactly short of form, with six top tens in his last ten starts, and he returns to a course he has played well at before after losing out in a play-off to Rikard Karlberg last season.
Kaymer will follow this week at Golf Club Milano with an appearance in his homeland at the Porsche European Open before he boards the plane to Hazeltine but he does not feel the schedule will leave him short of energy in Minnesota.
The 31 year old is no stranger to going on a hot run of form and he is hopeful that he can achieve that in the coming weeks, starting on Thursday morning.
"I enjoy the golf course because it's a ball-striking golf course, small greens so you need to hit good iron shots so it's not only a putting contest. For me it's really enjoyable," he said.
"In my past I have always played well when I play a few in a row. I played really well here last year so I have a lot of positive memories. Next week I play in my home country so it's all very positive going into the Ryder Cup and hopefully I can take some momentum into the Ryder Cup.
"It's a very long and tiring week but I think, if I look back, playing a few in a row usually helps me.
"Those tournaments, they are quite important for me and I'll play four tournaments in a row with a lot of stuff going on inbetween so I don't want to see the full picture of playing four tournaments because that is too overwhelming, that is too much.
It's all very positive going into the Ryder Cup and hopefully I can take some momentum into the Ryder Cup - Martin Kaymer
"I'll take week after week and once we get to the Ryder Cup, once we arrive in Hazeltine then I will be super excited about it but, for now, I have to see week after week otherwise it's too much."
Kaymer will play the first two days in Monza with Ryder Cup rookies Matthew Fitzpatrick and Danny Willett, two players who finished just a shot outside of joining him and Karlberg in that play-off last year.
The two-time Major Championship winner knows Fitzpatrick well and would be happy if Captain Darren Clarke paired him with either of the Englishmen.
"I'll just like playing with them the next couple of days and chatting about it," he said. "Obviously they are new on the team and I'm sure there are going to be some exciting topics we can talk about and even prepare all of us for that upcoming week."
Fitzpatrick is determined to keep his focus on the task at hand this week before thinking about the Ryder Cup, although he revealed he would like to play with Kaymer and he has been given some advice by one of Clarke's Vice Captains.
"It's important that I don't see it as a big thing this week, more just to keep playing," he said. "I've got a week off next week and I'll just go and practise over in the States for a little bit and relax a bit as well.
"I'd love to play with Martin, I've played a lot with him the last year and spent quite a lot of time in his company so it would be good to play with him. I get on well with all the guys so I feel like I could play with anybody."
He added: "The best advice I've had was from Thomas Bjørn, he said: 'expect to play one, prepare to play five'. I didn't really think about it like that. I might not play any of the foursomes or fourballs. It might just work out that way.
"I think that's a great bit of advice, you've go to be ready to play all five, you might need to, you might be playing really well and at the same time if you're not playing so well, you just get ready to do as well as you can to just play that one."
I did well here last year so hopefully same again this year, if not, a couple of places better would be great - Matthew Fitzpatrick
After coming so close to winning the event last year, Fitzpatrick is determined to do well again and believes accuracy will be the key.
"It's a tight course, it's different to quite a lot of them we play on Tour," he said. "There are tons of trees and it's difficult driving and you've got to hit a lot of greens as well. That's the key for this week.
"I did well here last year so hopefully same again this year, if not, a couple of places better would be great."
