PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – McKayla and Reagan Mayer were headed up the 18th at Pebble Beach Golf Links late Wednesday morning in search of their last item on a scavenger hunt. A day at Pebble was one of 7-year-old Reagan’s birthday gifts. The exuberant pair dressed like their favorite player, top-ranked American Nelly Korda, for the occasion, right down to their Nike shoes and the matching Goldman Sachs visors their dad had made.
McKayla will be 22 by the time the U.S. Women’s Open returns to Pebble Beach and, if her enthusiasm for the day and the game is any indication, a spot in the 156-player field might one day become a realistic goal. But if she doesn’t make it in 2035, no big deal. The women will be back in 2040 and again in 2048, when she’s 35.
The best thing about this historic week is that there’s more to come.
Reagan and McKayla Mayer pose on the 18th during Wednesday’s practice round at Pebble Beach. (Golfweek photo)
The 78th U.S. Women’s Open is, first and foremost, a celebration. Historians might look back on this championship a century from now and consider it the most consequential in Women’s Open in history.
For starters, it’s being staged on a course many consider a national treasure. The greatest to ever play the game have won here – Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Tom Watson. Even Babe Didrikson Zaharias and Patty Berg won the Weathervane Transcontinental Women’s Open at Pebble Beach in 1950 and ’51, not long after the LPGA was formed. They’d be shocked to learn it took this long to get invited back.
Players in this week’s field likely never dreamed of playing a U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble when they were McKayla’s age because it had never been done before.
U.S. Women’s Open: How to watch | Photo gallery
In fact, most of the top players in the women’s game had never played Pebble, even in a casual setting, prior to their preparations for this week. Lydia Ko came earlier this spring with her husband for their first peek. Nelly Korda saw every hole for the first time Monday. Michelle Wie West played nine holes for the first time at media day in May and the rest last week.
For generations, the best women in the world have operated almost on the fringes of the game, playing venues that lacked history, name recognition and gravitas. Few modern athletes are great students of the game, and it’s surprising how many don’t watch golf on television.
It’s only in recent years that the most talented female…
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