Caitlin Clark has simple goals at The Annika: Have fun, and don't hit anyone in the crowd
By Jeff Babineau
BELLEAIR, Fla. – Caitlin Clark did not become the WNBA’s leading rookie scorer and league-wide sensation without setting goals. As she readies for her LPGA pro-am debut on Wednesday at The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican, she definitely has particular goal in mind.
“Hey, I don't want to hit anyone with a golf ball,” Clark said on Tuesday at the event’s annual Women’s Leadership Summit, sitting alongside tournament host and former World No. 1 Annika Sorenstam in a setting where women shared their business success stories. She delivered the line with a broad smile, and Sorenstam joined her in laughter.
“That's my number one priority.”
Clark, only 22 years old, is on a great run these days. Life is busy, but grand. She loves the game of golf, which she has played since her dad gifted a tiny pink set of junior clubs as a youth, and as a Gainbridge ambassador, being invited to participate in Wednesday morning’s pro-am at The ANNIKA, where she will play nine holes (7 a.m.) with current World No. 1 Nelly Korda followed by nine holes with Sorenstam, a former No. 1 and 72-time LPGA champion, was an opportunity too good to pass up. So, she will leave the homey comfort of the hardwood court in Indianapolis, where Clark wears No. 22 when draining 3-pointers for the W’s Indiana Fever, for the lush green fairways of Pelican Golf Club.
Is this a big deal for golf? Consider this: Golf Channel will on site to film Clark’s warm-up session, and on-course reporter and former Women’s British Open champion Karen Stupples will do a “walk and talk” with Clark during the pro-am, which leads into the LPGA’s penultimate event of the 2024 season. The top eight women’s golfers in the world are here. All eyes on Wednesday morning will be watching Clark, who carries a 16-handicap and plays like a lot of us do. She says she can shoot in the mid-80s when her game is on, but most days, she is doing well “to break 100.”
That quip that she was turning pro and playing golf during her WNBA offseason? Just a joke, people. Beyond escaping the cold of an oncoming Indiana winter, Clark said there are plenty of reasons to say yes to playing.
“Well, first of all I love golf and being around it,” Clark said, adding that she has been a longtime Rory McIlroy fan. “I think it's so cool and special, and I grew up playing golf. Obviously, Annika, a legend in this game. Like for me, this is just fun. It's cool. This isn't a job to me. This is an honor. I'm just really excited to be here, and be a part of it.
“That's why I love doing these type of things. This is what I'm really passionate about. I'm passionate about women's sports. For me, it's fun. People think basketball is a job. No. I feel like I should find a job in the off-season. I get to play basketball every single day and I know there is a lot of people that would kill to do that. I just feel very fortunate.”
The Annika kicks off Parity Week for Gainbridge, an initiative to try to close the large gap in pay between men’s and women’s sports. Gainbridge backs The Annika as well as the King Cup, a tennis vent in Malaga, Spain, that honors Billie Jean King. As part of its effort, Dan Towriss, president and CEO of Group 1001 and Gainbridge, gifted a check to Clark for $22,000 on Tuesday earmarked for the Caitlin Clark Foundation.
This week near her Florida home, Brittany Lincicome will make her final start as a full-time player after a 20-year LPGA career (eight victories, including two major titles). Lincicome said she plans to make the week a festive family affair, with her husband, parents and two young daughters planning to come out to watch her play. She did her news conference on Tuesday just before Clark and Sorenstam visited with the media, and brought a new basketball along for Clark to sign for her girls.
Lincicome was in Las Vegas during the NCAA Women’s Final Four in March, and though she said she’s never been much of a college hoops fan, she could not stop watching Clark, the college game’s all-time leading scorer, as Clark led Iowa to the tournament’s championship game.
“I've seen her swing,” said Lincicome, still one of the LPGA’s longest hitters at 39, said of Clark. “I think she has a great swing and she has potential. How cool for her to come out and support us this week and (it can) only help grow women's golf.”
Dan Doyle Jr., whose family owns the Pelican Club, said ticket sales have increased “12x” since it was announced that Clark would attend and play. “People are expecting a lot,” he said, “and I have a feeling you're going to see a lot of young ladies out here following that group, which that will just generate excitement.”
Clark said the strongest part of her game is her driving and even let the women of the Leadership Summit in on her fears. “I hate cats,” she said, adding that she does like dogs, but a black cat down the road where she grew up just spooked her. The more time Sorenstam spent with Clark, the more Sorenstam discovered that they have much in common.
Sorenstam stepped away from the game in 2008, but remains competitive and relevant today with several business interests around the game. This is the second year she has served as the on-site host of The Annika. Nearly 70 players in the field have teed it up in at least one of Sorenstam’s events that she oversees as head of the ANNIKA Foundation.
As darkness began to descend at Pelican Club on Tuesday afternoon, Clark changed into less formal clothing and sneaked out to the chipping green to work on her game. She is no stranger to the spotlight, but this experience playing golf alongside Korda, then Sorenstam, was going to be different than playing basketball in a sold-out arena.
“Yeah, I think I'm just excited, honestly,” Clark said, asked her emotions. “I'm not a professional golfer, so I think (the goal is) just having fun. Getting to be with two of the best probably ever to play this game, it's super fun and special for me. I'm a fan of both of them, and a fan of all the women on this Tour. I think it's absolutely incredible. It's special for myself. I've tried to practice as much as I can. I mean, you know, I'm just the average golfer. I'm going to hit some good, I'm going to hit some bad. It is what it is.”
And as long as Clark doesn’t hit a spectator with a golf ball, it should be an experience to remember for the 22-year-old.
