Jon Rahm, Spain's raging bull, is ready to take the fight to America in Ryder Cup showdown

Spain’s charismatic conquistador flicks between a grin and a snarl in anticipation of the upcoming combat. His cap casts a veil of shadow around his eyes, his bladed iron a rapier. The only thing missing from the Ryder Cup rookie’s repertoire is a Zorro-like sombrero cordobés. “I have been dreaming of this moment for a very long time,” says Jon Rahm.

Motivated by the transatlantic duel’s mano-a-mano format, the 23-year-old who once likened himself to a soda can waiting to be shaken, will be one of the European team’s key figures come Friday. Rahm, it’s safe to say, is eager for the collision with his contemporaries.

“We’ve been hearing that the US have this Ryder Cup won for over a year but I don’t mind taking the role of the underdog. When it comes to the week, it won’t matter how many majors you’ve won. People like me and Ian Poulter have that fire like Seve [Ballesteros] and Sergio [Garcia]. I’d never bring hatred into the game, but I’m ready to go into battle. There’s only one person you have to beat and they get to see you while you do it.”

Ballesteros’ heroics at Valderrama in 1997 inspired Rahm's family to take up the sport when he was just three years old and he’s idolised Garcia in eight of the nine Ryder Cups since. Every bit as hot-blooded, he was happier than anyone when Thomas Bjorn announced that the “heartbeat” of the European side was one of his captain’s picks.

“I couldn’t imagine playing in a Ryder Cup without Sergio. His record is impeccable and, from what I’ve heard, he is the great locker room atmosphere guy. I’m certain he’ll be able to help me keep my emotions under control and enjoy it more. I can play with anyone, but it would be a dream to play in a match with him.”

It’s more important for Rahm than most to harness his combustible temperament under the limelight of Le Golf National. After leaving the serenity of Spain’s Basque Country for Arizona State University with only a speck of English, he quickly adapted to the art of the F-bomb. His PGA Tour debut was marked by the 100kg Toro Bravo dismembering his golf bag with a karate-kick and, at the US Open last year, an explosion of fury after a mangled chip.

Although those inescapable incidences of youthful anger have occasionally cast Rahm in a bad light, he’s one of the golf’s most popular and warm-hearted players. His soda can fizzes not with anger but fun-loving charm and a ceaseless grin that stretches far and wide. A magnetic combination of humility and Spanish arrogance that remains untainted after five years in America.

“I’ve adapted to the lifestyle [in the US] but I’m fully Spanish,” he says seriously. “It’s how we roll. We never change. Kelley [my fiancé] is American, but she’ll be rooting for me. If she wasn’t,” he chuckles as the tone tilts with a coin-flip, “I think I’d have to question our marriage”.

He gets goosebumps as he thinks about donning the European uniform, the crowd cheering his name after a special shot. “It’s the closest golf gets to a football match, to a stadium,” says the ardent Athletic Bilbao supporter.

“Paul Casey told me ‘you’re going to be as nervous as you’ve ever been when you’re standing on the first tee, but after that it’s going to be the most enjoyable week of your life’.”

But to Rahm, enjoyable isn’t being shielded from the pressure, it’s embracing the fight. Not wanting just to defeat an American side, but to defeat one of the best American Ryder Cup teams there’s ever been. To bask in and topple the Tiger lodestone on the greatest Sunday in golf.

“I haven’t played with him yet. He’s a force to be reckoned with, that’s for sure. I’d love to [play him]. Scores are tight, Sunday singles, it’d be a dream to be able to compete against Tiger Woods for the Ryder Cup,” he says in reverie. “That would be amazing.”

When Thomas Bjorn was questioned about Garcia’s out-of-form selection he told reporters “Sergio is my Seve”. Brotherly in patriotism and prowess, Jon Rahm is the next storybook Spaniard in line for whom greatness awaits.