Pebble Beach Golf Links may be an icon among American golf courses, but playing in the Northern California weather in February makes things a bit of a toss-up.
Justin Rose can attest as he prepares for this week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, where he won in 2023.
The 45-year-old Englishman said Tuesday that the weather at Pebble Beach can change in an instant and alter how the annual tournament plays.
“The weather can play a huge factor,” Rose said. “I think if you were to play the perfect golf at Pebble, you would like it to be 75 degrees, you would like the course to be somewhat firm and you would like about a 12- to 15-mile-an-hour wind. To me, then you’ve got a great challenge on your hands.
“If you get Pebble in soft conditions without much wind, (it’s) a little bit target golf. And the small greens don’t play small and you can kind of end up sort of — the course can feel a little softer or easier than it should be for a major championship test. But as soon as you get those conditions just right, yeah, this course can play unbelievable.”
Rose thought back to his three-stroke win in 2023 and said he was assisted by the wind and the climate that week, which required a Monday finish.
“In 2023 there was a break in play and I was playing a very tough stretch of golf into the wind at Monterey Peninsula when we were playing over there,” Rose said, referencing a sister course no longer in the Pro-Am’s rotation. “There was a break in play, got called off, came back the next day. The wind had shifted to downwind and I finished, I don’t know what it was, four or five birdies in my last eight or nine holes and that gave me a great run into Sunday and I won the tournament.”
In 2024, the fourth round was completely abandoned due to inclement weather, including wind gusts of more than 60 mph, and third-round leader Wyndham Clark was declared the winner. It was the seventh time since 1974 that the 72-hole tournament was shortened to 54 holes.
On Tuesday, Rose went out to practice with just his wedges and putter. He was glad not to have brought his full bag, as the bright and temperate conditions Tuesday morning quickly flipped to chilly and windy.
“Today was such a curious day out there,” Rose said. “It was actually a lovely morning and you’re sort of thinking to yourself, ‘Oh, they’ve got the weather forecast completely wrong,’ blue sky, it was calm. Then literally it was like a switch, like 30-mile-an-hour winds, the ocean started looking angry, the clouds start rolling in and it’s going to be a pretty rough afternoon I think. Yeah, that’s coastal golf.”
Rose is now No. 3 in the world rankings thanks to his win at the Farmers Insurance Open two weeks ago.
“(I’m) obviously playing at a high level, which is my goal,” he said. “That’s kind of what I want to be. I want to continue to be playing elite golf. That’s the only reason I want to play golf is to continue to play at an elite level.
“I don’t really just want to be out here for out here’s sake. I’ve got better things to do in my life. I’ve got a busy life, I’ve got people who need me at home as well. So like if I’m out here, I’ve got to be making it count.”
