PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Viktor Hovland is not one of the favorites to win the U.S. Open this week at Pebble Beach, but he does have the distinction of winning the most recent major national tournament on the fabled links.

Hovland, who just finished his senior year at Oklahoma State, won the 2018 U.S. Amateur at Pebble Beach and he’s turning pro next week when he plays in the Travelers Championship outside of Hartford, Conn.

“It’s hard to really say what that week meant, but obviously it’s given me this opportunity and a lot of other opportunities that I felt like I’ve kind of gotten a lot out of it,” Hovland said Monday. “I’ve certainly learned a lot and given myself a lot of opportunities that are going to rise in the future.”

Hovland, who was the low amateur in the Masters in April, qualified for both the Masters and U.S. Open by virtue of his U.S. Amateur triumph at Pebble Beach.

Interestingly, that U.S. Amateur win also qualified Hovland to play in the British Open in July at Royal Portrush — as an amateur. But his decision to turn pro disqualifies him from that status and now his only way into the British field is to play his way in with either a win between now and Portrush or some high finishes.

“One of my biggest goals is to play the PGA Tour, and I thought the best possible way or the way to do that for me with the best chances was to turn pro after this week and do it that way,’’ Hovland said. “I can still qualify to the Open, but obviously I’m going to make it a little harder for myself. Hopefully, I’ll be playing. That’s not going to be the only chance I have to play the British Open. It’s a good problem to have in a way. But you’ve just got to make those decisions sometimes.’’

Hovland will play his opening two tournament rounds with two-time defending champion Brooks Koepka and British Open champion Francesco Molinari. He played a practice round Monday with Rickie Fowler, also a former Oklahoma State star.

“There’s a couple little things that have changed [at Pebble Beach] from the Amateur,’’ Fowler said. “But for the most part he’s seen the golf course that he’s familiar with from the U.S. Amateur, and I expect him to play well here. I’m excited for him to start his professional career soon. I think he’s going to have a lot of success.’’

The Pebble Beach Hovland played during the U.S. Amateur is not the same Pebble Beach he’s seeing this week, but he’s fine with that.

“It’s obviously a special place for me as I’ve had my biggest win in my career at this place,’’ Hovland said. “It’s really cool to walk down some of

the fairways and some of the greens to kind of reminisce and think about the good times that I had last year. It’s a new week, and I just try to kind of reset a little bit and just play my game. It’s not a huge advantage that I played the U.S. Amateur last year here.’’

But it can’t hurt.

Fun at the Beach: Viktor Hovland, who will be turning pro next week at the Travelers Championship, won the 2018 U.S. Amateur at Pebble Beach, the site of this week’s U.S. Open.