It really is impressively gutsy when you think about it. Basketball superstar Caitlin Clark is an average golfer with many of the frustrations and swing flaws of anyone who loves and hates the game from one minute to the next. But hacks don’t have to go on national television, play alongside some of the greatest professionals in the world and have nearly every shot shown and examinedbe it a sliced drive, a chunk into the water or a putt that rolled off the green.
All of those things happened to Clark on Wednesday in her second appearance in the pro-am of The Annika on the LPGAalong with, to the surprise of no one, her calling her own shot on a long putt. And no matter if the competitor in her was stewing inside, the NCAAs all-time leading womens basketball scorer put on an easy smile, chatted often with some of the other famous athletes around her and mingled with a gallery of women and girls who didnt give a darn about how she played.
That was the point, with Clark sacrificing her own athletic ego to shed light on womens sports in general and the LPGA specifically.
I think it just shows how powerful supporting women can truly be, Clark said during a walk-and-talk in the round televised by Golf Channel at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Fla. Ive always been a big advocate of that, of supporting womens sports. And always been a big fan of whether its golf or soccer, volleyball or whatever it is.
As she did last year, Clark played her first nine holes with World No. 2 Nelly Korda, a three-time winner of The Annika, and then moved to the back side with sponsor invite and former Northwestern All-American Lauryn Nguyen.
This being Clarks second go around in The Annika, while shes coming off a WNBA season in which the Clark Effect was somewhat dampened by injuries that limited her play to only 13 games, there didnt seem to be quite the electricity on the first tee at Pelican this year. Hundreds were gathered compared to the thousands in 2024though the crowd built up as the day went onbut the energy still seemed high considering those who joined Clark inside the ropes.
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Beyond Korda, there were Clarks Indiana Fever teammates, Sophie Cunningham and Lexie Hull, and two athletes, former U.S. womens national team goalkeeper Brianna Scurry and NASCAR driver Carson Hocevar, who endorse the tournaments presenting sponsor, Gainbridge. They were all advertised as caddies, though as Hull joked, the only thing they lifted were cell phones and snacks.
All four did get a chance to hit a drive on the 10th tee, and, comparatively, they made Clark look like she was ready for the Masters. Particularly dangerous was Cunninghams low slice into the gallery, and though the ball hit a gentleman, it was hardly traveling at enough speed to cause injury. Cunningham signed a ball for the man, and his wife made out with the player autographing her Fever jersey.
Happy Gilmore would be really proud of me, Cunningham later joked on the broadcast. Last time I hit, I killed a squirrel. So, I dont know if golf is my scene.
The hope for all was that even the bad shots can make golf appealing if youre having fun with it, and there was no shortage of laughter in the favorable “shamble” format that allows a group to take the best drive (the pro’s, of course) and from there play the rest of your shots until you’re in the hole.
Speaking to Golf Channel on Wednesday morning, LPGA veteran Sarah Schmelzel said the exposure the tour gets when a person of Clarks stature takes interest can be huge.
Its amazing that shes into womens golf and wants to come out here and put a spotlight on us, and on the event and on this tour Schmelzel said. I think its a great day for womens sports overall.
Clark tried golf at a young age before focusing on basketball, and she said she picked it up more seriously again while at Iowa during the pandemic. Shes played in a few pro-ams, and like other amateurs works hard on improving her game. In fact, during the pro-am, well-known teacher Jamie Mulligan, who coaches Korda, was caught giving her driving swing tips. Clark then responded by hitting her best drive of the day at the 10th.
I just need to slow down. I swing so fast and so hard. Thats my problem. I always want to kill the ball, said Clark, sounding like every golfer on the planet. Ive hit some good iron shots and had some good putts. I need like a long putt to go in so the crowd can go crazy. I think theyre waiting for that.
And sure enough, like sharpshooting a 3-pointer at the buzzer, Clark all but called her shot, rolling in a putt of at least 30 feet from off the 10th green for a team birdie. The gallery roared, and just like that fans had their Caitlin Clark Moment.