Caitlin Clark jokes with spectators after errant tee shot (0:59)
Caitlin Clark jokes with spectators following a tee-off that almost lands in crowd at LPGA pro-am The Annika. (0:59)
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Nov 13, 2024, 01:32 PM ET
BELLEAIR, Fla. — Caitlin Clark introduced her golf sport and a giant buzz to the LPGA Tour on Wednesday when the basketball star performed in a pro-am that attracted a much bigger crowd than the tour typically will get for its match rounds.
Clark performed 9 holes with Nelly Korda, the No. 1 participant in ladies’s golf who’s competing for the primary time in practically two months after a minor neck harm. She performed the again 9 at Pelican Golf Membership with Annika Sorenstam, host of a match known as The Annika.
Throughout a short interview with Golf Channel, the WNBA Rookie of the Yr was requested whether or not she picked up any suggestions from Korda.
“I’ve watched and she or he’s wonderful,” Clark stated. “However golf is tough.”
The gallery packed behind the ropes to observe Clark, and she or he signed autographs for lots of of followers when the pro-am was over.
Clark has an endorsement take care of Indiana-based Gainbridge, the presenting sponsor of the LPGA’s penultimate match on the schedule. She additionally took half in a ladies’s management summit hosted by Gainbridge.
“It will possibly solely assist develop ladies’s golf,” Brittany Lincicome stated Tuesday, bringing a basketball for Clark to signal for her daughters.
Korda comes from a high sporting household. Her older sister, Jessica, performed within the Solheim Cup, and youthful brother Sebastian is No. 23 within the males’s tennis rankings. Their father, Petr Korda, gained the 1998 Australian Open in tennis.
She stated she has messaged with Clark on Instagram, however nothing topped spending time contained in the ropes.
“To see the affect that she has on folks, bringing folks out right here, and to see how wonderful of an affect she is only for sports activities, was actually cool to see firsthand at this time,” Korda stated.
Clark stated she likes getting away to play golf — she performed within the John Deere Traditional pro-am final summer season on the PGA Tour — and she or he contributed one putt from about 3-point vary.
“It was nice to see how relaxed she was,” Korda stated. “Clearly with the media consideration she has gotten in all probability up to now year-and-a-half, two years, you possibly can see how she’s comfy taking part in in entrance of a bigger crowd. And she or he was simply actually having fun with it. You possibly can inform.
“She’s undoubtedly very proficient. She was selecting the ball actually clear. She was shedding a pair pictures to the appropriate, however I requested her what number of occasions every week she performs and I feel with the quantity of obligations she has, she in all probability will get to the golf course as soon as every week.”
Korda final performed on the Kroger Queen Metropolis Championship on Sept. 22, every week after she led the People to a Solheim Cup victory. She spoke of getting migraines and thinks her neck harm that saved her from the Asian swing might need been associated.
Korda already has clinched LPGA Participant of the Yr for the primary time. She leads the Race to CME Globe however nonetheless must win the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship subsequent week, which awards $4 million to the winner.
