Matteo Manassero insists he is not putting pressure on himself to follow in the footsteps of Rory McIlroy and Ryo Ishikawa ahead of his professional debut on home soil.
Northern Ireland's McIlroy turned 21 on Tuesday, two days after his stunning win at the Quail Hollow Championship, while Japan's Ishikawa, 18, carded an amazing final round of 58 to win in Japan on Sunday.
Manassero is younger still, having celebrated his 17th birthday on April 19, and can also list some impressive achievements.
At 16 he became the youngest ever winner of the British Amateur Championship in 2009, shortly after he finished 13th in The Open Championship at Turnberry, and last month he came 36th at Augusta National as the youngest player in Masters Tournament history.
Expectations are therefore high ahead of the BMW Italian Open in Turin, which gets under way on Thursday, but Manassero is keeping a level head.
"My goal is to try to win my card for next season from the seven invites I am allowed," said Manassero, who has already received invites to the Memorial Tournament on the US PGA Tour and The European Tour's flagship BMW PGA Championship.
"I am thinking about winning but there is no pressure on this. If the chance will come and I take it that would be a great moment, but I am in no rush.
"What can I say about the other two guys? I don't know Ryo but I know Rory and I am very happy that he won and got through the bad spell that he had.
"I don't have expectations on myself, maybe other people do, but I don't play for them, I play for myself. That is how I handle the expectations."
Manassero will play the first two rounds with Ryder Cup Captain Colin Montgomerie, although today's pro-am was washed out after several days of rain.
