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.

The 39-year-old 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 former US Open champion Graeme McDowell from the team.

Gallacher has won three times on the European Tour, with a successful title defence in the Dubai Desert Classic in February followed by five more top-10 finishes this term.

He will draw on his experiences in the desert as he looks to follow in the footsteps of his uncle Bernard, who played in the biennial event eight times and went on to captain the European side on three occasions.

"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 35 miles from Ryder Cup venue Gleneagles.

"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 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 and that is what I am trying to do."

Gallacher will get his bid under way at 8.30am local time today, with European captain Paul McGinley also in the field at Circolo Golf in Turin after recovering from a shoulder injury.

McGinley has been paired with another Scot, Made in Denmark winner Marc Warren.