SWASHBUCKLING Spaniard Jon Rahm dismissed suggestions he is the natural successor to Seve Ballesteros but hoped to one day leave a similar legacy in the game. The world number seven goes into this week’s Open championship at Royal Birkdale as one of the favourites to win it on the back of his recent victory at the Irish Open.

His style of play and energy has many comparing him to legendary countryman Ballesteros but, although Rahm modestly deflected that praise, he did hope he could encourage children to take up the game the way the late Seve did for him and his family.

He said: “To whoever compares me to him, I'm never going to be Seve. He was so unique and so special. To be honest, if we ever see someone like him again, it is going to be someone very, very special.

“He opened so many doors. And he is part of the reason why I play golf - because of that Ryder Cup at Valderrama in 1997. I'm pretty sure he had some influence in getting the Ryder Cup there, he was the captain and brought the game of golf to Spain and the Spanish community. Directly because of that my dad and some friends tried golf and that's how I started playing.

“So if I can make just one kid play golf, I'll be extremely happy. When I'm compared to him it's really beautiful to hear those words. I try to take it as a positive and embrace it. He's a great idol of mine and I try to emulate a lot of things he used to, and a lot of that is the inspirational power he had, the way he brought masses together and people together. If I could do a quarter of whatever he did, I'd probably be satisfied with my career.”

Rahm hoped his success over the links at Portstewart might stand him in good stead ahead of this week’s challenge at Royal Birkdale.

He added: “It was really close to my best that week in Ireland. To shoot the score that I did, especially in the final round, it does give me a little bit of confidence. I can read the greens. I interpreted the wind properly. I'm hitting it properly to have my ball perform in the wind. So obviously I take a lot of positives from that week that I'm going to be able to apply this week.”