EDDIE Pepperell begins his challenge at the Italian Open this morning alongside former Open champion Darren Clarke.

The Abingdon golfer tees off at 7.20am (BST) with the Ulsterman and England’s James Morrison in Milan.

Pepperell arrives in good form following a joint fifth place finish at the KLM Open in the Netherlands on Sunday.

The result, his fourth top-five finish of the season on the European Tour, took the Frilford Heath player up to a career-high 80 in the world rankings.

Pepperell missed the cut at last year’s Italian Open, which was played on a different course.