St Andrews, Augusta National, and Pebble Beach are often seen as the gold-standard golf courses within the professional ranks.
Rarely, when asking a pro to name their favourite venue, will the three aforementioned courses be omitted. Tiger Woods’ favourite is St Andrews; Brooks Koepka and Rory McIlroy also hold the Old Course in high esteem.
Jack Nicklaus ended his illustrious career on St Andrews’ iconic 18th hole. In 2015, the Golden Bear said Augusta and St Andrews were his favourite places in all of golf. The 18-time major winner would still play his last round of golf elsewhere, however.
Nicklaus wants his last-ever round to take place at Pebble Beach, and it’s easy to see why. Nicklaus captured his third US Open win on the Monterey Peninsula in 1972. His 1-iron on the 17th is still one of golf’s all-time great shots.
Clearly, winning on the edge of the Pacific Ocean meant a lot to Nicklaus, and it’s a similar story for Wyndham Clark, who made history at Pebble Beach 12 months ago.
Where does Wyndham Clark rank Pebble Beach?
Fresh off winning the US Open in 2023, Clark added the AT&T Pro-Am title to his resume at the start of last season, and the American did it in emphatic fashion.
Clark broke the Pebble Beach course record during the final round of the reduced 54-hole event. The American’s 60 (12 under) saw him fly up the leaderboard and seal a one-shot victory over Ludvig Aberg.
After winning at Pebble Beach in such a manner, Clark has admitted he rates the California venue ahead of Augusta National and St Andrews.
“I mean, I was just talking about it on the radio show. I mean, outside of probably Augusta and Saint Andrews, there’s–honestly, I would even put this place ahead of that,” Clark said during his pre-tournament press conference on Wednesday.
“This is kind of one of the most iconic places, kind of the home of golf in the U.S. in my opinion. It’s my favourite place in the world. So for me, it’s, yeah, maybe number two behind my U.S. Open. I just hope it lasts. I hope it’s not a 12-month course record. If it is broken, I hope it’s me, not someone else.”
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Has Wyndham Clark watched his record-breaking round at Pebble Beach?
Clark also revealed that his course record at Pebble Beach is one of the few rounds he’s actually watched back.
“I still haven’t watched me play at L.A.C.C. or my first win at Quail Hollow, but I watched that 60. I think five, that’s a great highlight real, where you get into the zone, and everyone talks about that, and that’s something that I hope I get into each week,” the Denver native added.
“I remember those feelings. I started off that day pretty ho-hum, made a nice eagle on two and birdie on 4. Then I make that long eagle putt on 6, and you’re like, OK, this is kind of — seems like it’s going my way. Then I make the putt on 8 and 9 and 10 and 11 and 12, all these holes, and you’re like, holy smokes.
“It’s amazing how I can watch that, and I start reliving those feelings. Talk about sports psychology and mental stuff, you want to try to relive those feelings as much as possible and live in that space so that it sometimes become a reality when you play.”
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