[PHOTO: Michael Reaves]
The WNBA season has come to a close, so now Caitlin Clark can focus on what’s really important: her golf game. We’re kidding, though Clark herself joked that in the off-season she plans on becoming a pro golfer. The 22-year-old will get to play alongside the pros at The Annika, one of the last LPGA Tour stops in the 2024 season. Having Clark, a sports icon, on-site for the Wednesday pro-am is not lost on players in the field.
When Lilia Vu, the reigning LPGA Player of the Year and currently No.2 in the Rolex World Ranking, heard Clark would be playing in the pro-am, she reacted in the same way most of us would.
“When the news was announced I immediately turned to my mum and I’m like, ‘Oh, my gosh, Caitlin Clark is coming to the Pelican.’ I thought it was the coolest thing,” Vu said. “Hopefully, I’m lucky enough to meet her on that pro-am day and hopefully run into her. It’s been so cool to see everything she’s done. I think she’s a great ambassador for women’s sports and just someone you look up to.”
During the pro-am, Clark is scheduled to play nine holes with Nelly Korda and nine holes with Annika Sorenstam. The tournament host spoke about the value of getting top-performing women together at Pelican Golf Club.
“Nelly Korda is going to be there, Lilia is going to be there,” Sorenstam said. “[Caitlin’s] going to be mingling with all these players, and I think that’s really cool because you share stories. Maybe you help each other. But you can also see at the end of the day we’re all women trying to achieve something.”
Sorenstam understands the value of Clark coming to the LPGA on a macro level, and she’s excited to personally meet Clark, too.
“Obviously I look forward to picking her brain and walking down the fairway,” Sorenstam said.
Let’s hope there are some live mics out there so we can get a sense of what iconic female athletes talk about when they’re walking inside the ropes together.
