Rory McIlroy is relishing the chance to take on Marco Simone Golf and Country Club this week ahead of next year's Ryder Cup but is keeping his eyes firmly on the prize at the DS Automobiles Italian Open.
The Ryder Cup looms large over this week's event, with the 2023 venue playing host to European Captain Luke Donald, Vice Captains Thomas Bjørn and Edoardo Molinari and a number of players who are targeting a place on the team which takes on the United States next September.
McIlroy, who has played in every Ryder Cup since 2010, is among those hopefuls but he is not losing sight of the chance to claim DP World Tour win number 15 in a country where he has tasted amateur glory.
"I'm excited to make my professional debut in Italy," he said. "The only other time I played in Italy was the European Amateur Championship in 2006, which I won, so I've got 100 per cent record in this country and I'd like to keep that going.
"It's great to be here, to see the golf course here at Marco Simone, especially for The Ryder Cup next year, get some early preparation and get a look at what the course is like.
"But I'm also trying to win a prestigious championship and a national Open title, which is pretty cool. There are some great names on the Italian Open trophy.
"I feel like every time I tee it up nowadays, I'm finding myself in contention on a Sunday. You're obviously not going to win every week but if you give yourself a chance at least every week that's a really good start.
"You're going to win some, you're going to lose some, but if you can play golf at a consistently high level like I have done for the last two months and you give yourself as many chances as possible, you're going to win some that you probably shouldn't and you're going to lose some that you probably should win.
"But it should all even out at the end of the day and as long as I keep putting myself in positions, keep giving myself chances to win, that's what I'm really happy with."
Donald will have six Captain's Picks for next year's biennial spectacle, with a host of rising stars expected to challenge in the quest to win back the trophy for the eighth time in 11 stagings, while home favourite this week Francesco Molinari is also determined to play his way back into the team – having been so central to Europe’s last victory in 2018.
McIlroy, for one, is excited by the future of European golf and the prospect of a new generation of future Ryder Cup stars joining the more experienced veterans.
"I think the European team has a core of six or seven guys that I think we all know are pretty much going to be on that team," he said. "Then it's up to some of the younger guys to maybe step up.
"Francesco had a top ten last week at Wentworth and seems to be coming into form and I think having an Italian on the team would be huge.
"You've got your core there with experience in The Ryder Cup and played in a few, so I think you're looking for some of these younger guys over the next 12 months to step up and put their hand up for a possible pick.
"The criteria this year is a little different. There's going to be six picks, so whoever is in form at that time but also has shown that they have played consistently well over this period.
"But I think we were in need of a rebuild anyway. We did well with the same guys for a very long time but everything comes to an end at some point. I think Whistling Straits is a good sort of demarcation.
"That's all behind us. We have got a core group of guys but let's build on that again and instead of filling those three or four spots with older veterans, let's blood some rookies and let's get them in and build towards the future. I think that's important."
