Captain Luke Donald proved the preparations for next year's Ryder Cup have not had a detrimental impact on his own game as he produced a birdie blitz on day two of the 2022 DS Automobiles Italian Open.
The Englishman's focus may be on other things at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club this week, as he gets a closer look at the venue that will host the biennial showpiece in 2023 as well as some of the European stars hoping to make the team.
But that did not stop Donald from putting on a show out on the course on Friday, firing eight birdies in a second-round 68 which also contained a seven at the par-four 16th after he hit the wrong ball.
The 44-year-old heads into the weekend very much in contention on five under par and was pleased with his performance.
He said: "I made a lot of birdies out there and hit a lot of good shots and overall I'm pretty pleased with my game."
Players such as Rory McIlroy have highlighted the rough as being this week's host course's main defence and Donald does not expect many changes to that between now and next year's Ryder Cup.
He said: "I think the idea is to keep it pretty high. We want to put a premium on hitting the fairways.
"I don't think it will be too much different, a couple of fairway lines might be even a little bit tighter.
"The rough here, it's a different type of grass. It's kind of a thick blade, so it doesn't need to be too heavy to make it tough.
"But it won't be too different. We obviously want to play similar conditions to what we played in this year."
