Home favourite Filippo Celli cannot wait to get his professional career under way at the 2022 DS Automobiles Italian Open after enjoying a dream end to his amateur days.
The summer of 2022 has seen the young Italian win the European Amateur Championship, the Silver Medal at The 150th Open and taste team success earlier this month at the Eisenhower Trophy.
He will now make his first professional start just nine days after his 22nd birthday and he cannot wait to get started at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club, which will play host to the Ryder Cup in 2023.
"I can't wait to play," he said. "It's my first tournament as a professional and I hope to enjoy the week, see what happens and play my best golf ever.
"I'm so excited to start this new chapter and journey to see where my golf can go and how I can grow in this field with these amazing players.
"The course is amazing and with hosting the Ryder Cup next year I think it is very good to play on this course. It looks pure so I'm excited to get started.
"Rome is a beautiful city, it's not just the golf course and I think it will be incredible.
"I played last year and the course is pretty challenging. It's more wet this year than last year and the greens are a little bit slower but the greens are so slopy and big, the key is to miss in the right places as the greens are not easy."
Celli has not just enjoyed success among his fellow amateurs, following his top 50 at St Andrews with a top ten at the ISPS HANDA World Invitational presented by AVIV Clinics.
And he is hopeful his previous experiences will hold him in good stead this week and maybe even at a home Ryder Cup in 12 months' time.
"I'm more prepared to play in this field because I already played at The Open and also in Northern Ireland where I finished in the top ten so I'm really excited," he said.
"It's very hard to talk about (the Ryder Cup) now but I'll try to play my best golf ever and we'll see what happens."
