Self-doubt doesn’t exist, however, for the current incumbent. On being asked last week if he believed any contemporary was capable of beating him at his best, the reply was an emphatic “No.”

Call it latin arrogance. Either way, while acknowledging Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler as his most serious rivals right now, Jon Rahm has no doubt that at his best, he’s the best. Which can be viewed as admirable self-belief.

Spanish players have never been burdened by false-modesty. And with 10 successes on the PGA Tour, Rahm is already one clear of his great idol, Seve Ballesteros, who had only nine official US victories in his 54 international wins.

“I know Seve didn’t play full time on the PGA Tour and I know five of those wins are Majors, but still, for me to reach a milestone of double-digit wins is pretty incredible,” said Rahm. And he has the opportunity at Sawgrass this week of doing something that seemed beyond the compass of the great conquistador.

Ballesteros never felt comfortable on Pete Dye’s treacherous transformation of a Florida swamp. When Sandy Lyle became the first European winner there in 1987, the Spaniard ran up successive 77s on the weekend to finish in a lowly share of 65th place. And he was number two in the world to Greg Norman at the time.

Though Rahm struggled as world number one to be tied 55th behind Cameron Smith in the Players last year, he remained a Dye fan. “It’s a challenging golf course that I normally enjoy,” he said. “A champion should be really proud when they’re hoisting the trophy on Sunday because you truly are the best player in the world when you win the Players.”

​Lyle remained the only European winner at Sawgrass until Sergio Garcia became the first Spaniard to succeed there in 2008. Henrik Stenson extended a brief European dominance as the 2009 champion, before Martin Kaymer triumphed in 2014. McIlroy then became Ireland’s first Players champion in 2019.

In the context of these islands, Spanish players came relatively late to tournament golf, as reflected in the fact that a Frenchman, Arnaud Massy, was the inaugural winner in 1912 of their national open. And it was 1958 before the Miguel brothers, Angel and Sebastian, entered Irish consciousness when Spain were runners-up to Harry Bradshaw and Christy O’Connor in the Canada Cup in Mexico City.

The older of the two, 28-year-old Angel, then beat Bradshaw for the individual title by sinking an 18-foot birdie putt on the third hole of a sudden-death play-off. He went on to gain 10 tournament victories including the Spanish Open of 1961 and 1964. Sebastian’s four European wins included the Spanish Open of 1960.

Another notable Spaniard at that time was Pedrena-born, Ramon Sota, who captured the Spanish and Portuguese Open titles of 1963 in a total of eight European wins. He made something of a European breakthrough by finishing sixth in the 1965 Masters but his competitive achievements would later become secondary to the impact a promising nephew named Severiano, would have on the game.

When the Irish Open was revived by Carrolls in 1975 at Woodbrook, there were two Spanish entries, Manuel Ballesteros, who was tied 28th behind Christy O’Connor Jnr, and 25-year-old Manuel Pinero, who missed the cut.

By the early 1980s, a total of 16 Spanish players had made the trip to Dublin, at a time when golfing holidays on the Costa del Sol, were becoming a feature of Irish life.

By then, jousts with Spanish amateurs had also become frequent for Irish teams at international level. We recall Reykjavik in 1981 when a gifted young Spaniard by the name of Jesus Lopez was the key player in their triumph over Ireland in the final of the European Youths Championship. Philip Walton gained a measure of revenge on Lopez that summer, however, by beating him in the final of the Spanish Amateur Championship at Torrequebrada.

Elements of both amateur and professional ranks came together beautifully 40 years ago, in 1983. That was when Ireland’s men beat Spain to capture the European Team Championship at Chantilly and when, at his sixth attempt, Ballesteros captured the Irish Open at Royal Dublin.

Chantilly was especially memorable. In the semi-finals against Scotland, with the match finely balanced, I can remember the 19th hole in the top singles and Walton hitting a glorious, three-iron approach where his opponent, George Macgregor, was hitting wood. Walking the fairway, Joe Carr gasped in admiration, knowing it would be decisive. Which is was.

The final against Spain was fascinating for an entirely different reason. Here, the crucial blow proved to be the second foursomes in which Arthur Pierse and John Carr beat Jose-Maria Olazabal and Ignacio Gervas on the 22nd, for a 2-0 lunchtime lead.

Logically, Spain’s only chance was to lead from strength at the top of the singles. Their playing-captain, Roman Taya, was so fearful of Walton, however, that he opted to play Olazabal in the anchor position of number five, where he thrashed Tom Cleary by 8 and 7.

By then, Walton and Garth McGimpsey had both won their matches to secure victory, with Pierse and Mick Morris earning halves in the other two singles. Two years later, as winner of the British Boys, Youths and Amateur championships in successive seasons, Olazabal played the Irish Open as an amateur, sharing 34th place behind Ballesteros, with Lee Trevino, no less.

​Meanwhile, Seve’s impact in ’83, ranged from some extraordinary shot-making in an exhibition on the Tuesday, to a finish effectively to order, when a 20-footer made the target for a closing birdie to a round of 67.

He went on to win two further Irish Opens in 1985 and ’86; compatriot Olazabal then captured the title in 1990; Garcia was champion in 1999 and Rahm became the fourth Spanish winner in 2017 at Portstewart, before delivering another spectacular triumph at Lahinch, two years later.

Interestingly, the blue riband of Irish golf sat equally comfortably through the years, on the shoulders of the world’s top-ranked players, from Bernhard Langer and Ian Woosnam to Faldo and on to McIlroy and Rahm.

So far this season, Rahm is inside the PGA Tour’s top-10 in three critical statistical areas. We’re talking about strokes gained off the tee, strokes gained from approach play and strokes gained putting.

In 20 seasons since these categories were introduced, only one player has finished a season ranked inside the top-10 in these three areas. That was Tiger Woods, who did it in 2005 and 2007, during a run of five years as the world’s number one.

Which is not a bad reference point.