Caitlin Clark brings large audience to pro-am golf event

Caitlin Clark, this year’s WNBA Rookie of the Year winner, participated in the pro-am event of the U.S. Women’s Professional Golf (LPGA)’s Annika Driven tournament held in Bel Air, Florida. She was given the special treatment of playing the first nine holes with current women’s world No. 1 Nelly Korda and the back nine with former world No. 1 Annika Sorenstam. Sorenstam, who has 72 career victories on Tour, is the host of the tournament.

However, the eyes of the gallery were on Clark, who had brought huge attention to women’s basketball across the U.S., even during her time at the University of Iowa. In April, her NCAA quarterfinal game set a new NCAA record for most viewers at 12.3 million. She became the first two-time recipient of the James E. Sullivan Award, given by the U.S. Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) to the most exemplary amateur athlete.

Clark, whose best record was mid-80 strokes, had a close call early in the day when she sent her tee shot sailing over a nearby gallery. She apologized, pulled another golf ball from her right pocket, and teed off again. Once more relaxed, she continued to impress with her approach shots, putts, and more, drawing applause from the gallery.

“It was awesome to see firsthand what an amazing impact Caitlin has on the sport,” said Korda after the match. “I think sports bring people together, and that’s the beautiful thing about it and why I’ve loved sports my whole life,” Clark said.

Hong-Gu Kang windup@donga.com