BELLEAIR, Fla. – Caitlin Clark had just wrapped up a busy day of media obligations on Tuesday at Pelican Golf Club, ahead of her LPGA pro-am debut at The Annika driven by Gainbridge, an Indianapolis-based sponsor of the 22-year-old Indiana Fever superstar. Most of the professionals had already left the property, but Clark put on some sweatpants, slipped off her high-heels and headed straight to the chipping area – barefoot. Under the setting sun, Clark hit shot after shot, some good, some bad. Two unfortunate skulls raced across the 60-yard long green before finishing just a few paces from the glass-windowed media center.
Clark’s top priority this week, she said, was to not hit anyone, so she was using every last-minute opportunity to rein in her game.
A day later, that goal lasted eight holes – and nearly two – proving Clark is human after all.
Playing alongside world No. 1 Nelly Korda in the morning portion of Wednesday’s pro-am, Clark tugged her hybrid into a sizable gallery left of the par-3 ninth green. No one was hurt, and one spectator walked away with a signed golf ball (numbered with Clark’s signature No. 22), possibly a light bruise and one heckuva story.
Clark teed off bright and early, at 7 a.m. ET, in front of hundreds of fans, many wearing Indiana Fever and Iowa Hawkeye jerseys. A group of about 15 young girls from Girls Golf, an LPGA and USGA initiative, traveled in, mostly from Miami, to watch Clark and Korda play together. They brought signs and raised them up behind every tee box. Many other kids had skipped school for the opportunity to get a glimpse of the WNBA Rookie of the Year.
The format was a shamble, so it mattered little that Clark was fighting a slice with her driver. She found the green with her opening approach and two-putted from about 25 feet. But then came the lefts with her irons, not a great recipe on a brutally tough Pelican layout. In a collection area off the second green, Clark’s Texas wedge didn’t have enough pace to get up onto a severe shelf, and her ball rolled back down off the putting surface. Clark immediately scooped up her ball but then questioned her decision as Korda sent her chip through the green and down next to Clark’s ball.
“Guess I shouldn’t have picked that up,” Clark said to the gallery.
“Wait until the third hole!” shouted a fan.
“What’s on the third hole? Should I be scared?” Clark responded, playfully.
Moments later, at the par-3 third, Clark nearly missed the ball with her hybrid, topping it 45 degrees left and seeing it whiz just over the heads of the fans crammed along the rope line. A few then raced into a nearby bougainvillea bush to fetch the souvenir. Thorns be damned.
Clark missed the pin at the par-4 fifth about 40 yards left, but then came the first of several flashes of brilliance with her short game, easily the best part of her game on this day. With the green running away from her and then dropping off the front, Clark displayed some soft hands in chipping her third shot to 15 feet. Even better, she sank the putt for par.
“It was a great to see how relaxed she was,” Korda said. “Obviously with the media attention she has gotten probably in the past year and a half, two years, you can see how she’s comfortable playing in front of a larger crowd. And she was just really enjoying it. You can tell. Like she’s definitely very talented. She was picking the ball really clean. She was losing a couple shots to the right, but I asked her how many times a week she plays, and I think with the amount of obligations she has, she probably gets to the golf course once a week. So, for just playing once a week, she was playing really well.”
At the turn, Korda and Clark exchanged golf balls, and Korda handed Clark off to World Golf Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam, who stuck one at the par-3 12th hole, setting up Clark’s only birdie of the day from 6 feet.
The crowd roared.
It was exactly the scene tournament organizers envisioned when Clark committed to the event. Ticket sales were reportedly 12x compared to last year.
“Nothing we would really see on a normal Wednesday,” Sorenstam said. “It’s just great how it brings attention to the tournament.”
Sorenstam broke down Clark’s game a bit, saying Clark had some pop off the tee and good dynamics in her swing but struggled with her tempo, which was a little quick.
“She played with Nelly on the front, and Nelly is all about power, so of course when you play with someone like that you want to swing harder and faster. Now when it’s windy, I’m like, just got to calm down, find the tempo, and try to make sure that club face is more square to the target. I think I that’s more important. Again, for her, there is a lot going on. It’s not just out there focusing on my game. She’s trying to be the face of the day.”
Sorenstam’s biggest advice to Clark, a 16-handicap, going forward?
“She just needs to play,” Sorenstam said.
Clark did a walk-and-talk with Golf Channel’s Kira K. Dixon on the seventh hole and promptly chunked a 3-wood. She quickly tossed another ball down and dropkicked one down the fairway. She laughed through it all. Usually, Clark is the best player in the arena, but on this occasion, she was the one appreciating greatness.
“Obviously, getting to see them do what they do up front is – like people would pay for that. I got to do it for free and have fun with them,” Clark said afterward. “Definitely a fun morning. Feel very thankful that Gainbridge had me out here. Obviously, their support of women’s sports is tremendous. Very lucky and fortunate. Hung in there; did all right. It was a good day.”
And with that, Clark signed a few autographs as fans barreled down the hill behind the 18th green before heading to the airport, surely itching to get back on a golf course soon.
