Form isn't an impervious barrier to Leona Maguire and Stephanie Meadows at Le Golf National

“We are very fortunate to come from a country that there's a sense of camaraderie as an Irish team and had our best Games so far as a country. It's inspiring to watch them succeed and do so well and obviously you want to be able to add to that," said Maguire.

Team Ireland golfers Leona Maguire, left, and Stephanie Meadow during a practice round at Le Golf National. Pic: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

Scottie Scheffler’s win at the men’s Olympic golf tournament outside the French capital last week could, on the face of it, confirm the notion that the cream tends to rise to the top when it comes to this competition and its cropped field of 60.

The gold medal was the latest peak in a calendar year full of them for the Texan world No.1 and he won it by holding off the likes of Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Xander Schauffele and Hideki Matsuyama, major winners one and all.