Stephen Gallacher believes he has already had the best year of his career as he seeks one more good performance to secure a Ryder Cup debut on home soil.
Gallacher is the only man capable of moving into the automatic qualifying places in the final counting event, a top-two finish in the Italian Open enough to dislodge Graeme McDowell from the team.
The 39-year-old, who successfully defended his Dubai Desert Classic title in February, said he will draw on his experiences in the desert as he looks to follow in the footsteps of his uncle Bernard, who played in eight Ryder Cups.
“I can only control what I do with my own game and my own golf ball. I know that I can get into the team by finishing first or second so that is what I am going to try and do,” said Gallacher, who lives just 60km from Ryder Cup venue Gleneagles.
“As long as I have that target in mind and that is still mathematically possible then that is all I am rea-lly going to be focusing on for the moment. I am trying to prepare the same way I would any other week.
“There are a few ways to handle the pressure I suppose and I am going with the fact that it’s an exciting position to be in and an exciting time. It was the same kind of feeling I had in Dubai when I was defending my title and was paired with Rory (McIlroy) and Tiger (Woods) in the first two rounds.
“I just embraced it and enjoyed it. This has been a year-long process to try and make the Ryder Cup team and I am still in there with a chance to qualify by rights and I am actually quite proud of that. I had to have the best year of my career to try and make the team and I have done that so far. I just need one more big week,” he added.
