Pebble Beach is a simply unforgettable course. Before I joined the Champions Tour, I played the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro Am there 22 years in a row. Its beauty is unsurpassed and it doesn’t matter how well or poorly I’ve been playing, I always get excited at the thought of returning. I’ve won at Pebble Beach five times, which gives a pretty good indication of how much I enjoy playing there.
I’ve always enjoyed travelling overseas as a professional golfer – I realised early on that golf is a global game and playing around the world certainly helped me develop as a player. The different grasses, the different weather – playing in those kinds of conditions really helped me become much more creative with my shot-making. I always thought that’s the reason why the European players do so well at the Masters. The short game thought process comes into play more often at Augusta – another of my favourites – than at any other course I can think of.
Royal Birkdale, where I won The Open in 1998, is of course very special to me. I always enjoyed the challenge, having finished third in The Open to [Ian] Baker-Finch in 1991 and winning the Lawrence Batley International there in 1987. To hold off Brian Watts in the play-off and clip Tiger by a shot was hugely satisfying. Again, it’s about creativity. Links golf forces you to be creative and Royal Birkdale – like Portmarnock, another quite brilliant links across the Irish Sea – demands that.
O'Meara's Top-10 Courses
1. Pebble Beach, California, USA
2. Royal Birkdale, UK
3. Portmarnock, Ireland
4. St Andrews, UK
5. Augusta National, Georgia, USA
6. Cypress Point, California, USA
7. Pine Valley, New Jersey, USA
8. Waterville, Ireland
9. Seminole, Florida, USA
10. Tuhaye, Utah, USA
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