When play begins at Pelican Golf Club, viewers will see something that doesn’t happen often in women’s golf. There will be live weekday coverage, thanks to a familiar face from a different sport. Like in 2024, Caitlin Clark will play in The ANNIKA Pro-Am this year. However, the issue is that LPGA events rarely see live coverage for the Pro-Am. Let alone the Pro-Am events, the LPGA has faced scrutiny over live coverage even at major events.

While the LPGA still struggles to get a lot of attention, the WNBA is making waves across the country. And who better to grab attention than WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark? She has won the WNBA Rookie of the Year award and has already attracted big crowds at the 2024 The ANNIKA. Golf Channel is leveraging the opportunity to promote the tour and increase engagement through live coverage. It shared the news through an X post, which read, “Golf Channel will provide live, on-site coverage of @WNBA star Caitlin Clark’s pro-am round at the LPGA Tour’s The ANNIKA from Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Fla., tomorrow, Wednesday, Nov. 12. Coverage begins tomorrow live at 10 am ET on @GolfChannel.”

The move echoes the Golf Channel’s similar efforts last year to leverage Caitlin Clark’s crossover star power. The LPGA and its social media handles were covering in-round walk-and-talk interviews. Similarly, Golf Channel’s “Golf Today” airs at 12:30 pm ET. However, it aired at 11:00 am to cover Clark’s round in 2024.

Golf Channel is expected to show similar coverage for the 2025 The ANNIKA Pro-Am, as Caitlin Clark will once again be seen swinging at Pelican Golf Club. This time, she is not even alone. Her teammates Sophie Cunningham and Lexie Hull will join her as celebrity caddies. To make the most of it, Golf Channel is starting coverage even earlier, at 10:00 am ET on Wednesday, November 12, 2025. Annika Sorenstam, Nelly Korda, Sophie Cunningham, Lexie Hull, and Briana Scurry are expected to be part of the live interviews. It will also include reports from the 2025 DP World Tour Championship, where Rory McIlroy will look to win the 7th Race to Dubai title.

This live coverage solves a crucial problem the LPGA has been facing over the years. “For so many sports, it’s easy to know when to turn on the TV or click open an app and find the players you want to see at predictable times. It’s really, really hard to do that today with women’s golf,” LPGA Commissioner Craig Kessler said earlier this year. This highlights the ongoing issue with live coverage for the LPGA events.

Fans have faced the problem of finding live coverage many times because of a lack of a proper schedule. Last year, no channel covered the third round of the CME Group Championship. It is a significant event that crowns the LPGA’s season-long points champion. “That’s (BS), isn’t it?” Terry Duffy, group chairman and CEO of CME, told The Palm Beach Post. “I think that’s inappropriate for a tournament of this magnitude to be on tape delay.”

Something similar happened at the 2024 Ford Championship, too. Nelly Korda was making history by winning her third consecutive start on the LPGA Tour. However, fans only got to see a glimpse of it. First, the Golf Channel was covering the 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open. Fans saw Stephan Jaeger and Scheffler finish their round on NBC Sports and turned to Korda and the LPGA. However, instead of the Ford Championship, Golf Channel was covering the Champions Tour’s finish.

Although Caitlin Clark is helping temporarily solve the issue, the LPGA is showing improvements in coverage.

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The LPGA is actively improving its broadcast coverage

LPGA Commissioner Craig Kessler has made improving TV broadcasts and visibility a top priority since his appointment in mid-2025. Kessler said Golfweek that he is “an enormous amount of time” on the visibility part. He is investing significant time and resources to enhance the broadcast product and make coverage more predictable so fans know when and where to find the LPGA’s live action. SBJ also reported that the tour is working with Sports Media Advisors for media plans. It is aiming to both increase broadcast reach and create innovative viewing experiences for fans.

Kessler emphasizes content creation as crucial and encourages LPGA players to engage with the YouTube golf community and new media platforms. This is similar to the efforts seen on the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. The LPGA extended its agreement with ESPN to stream “Featured Group” coverage live and exclusively at multiple tour events. This helps boost ESPN+’s live coverage by leveraging a major streaming platform with a vast subscriber base. The LPGA also revamped its digital platforms including LPGA.com to enhance fan experience through personalized content, real-time leaderboards, and AI-driven highlight reels that spotlight players and key moments.

All these efforts have shown results, too. Recently, the PGA Tour’s Black Desert event was pushed to CNBC to start live coverage of the International Crown on time. The event features Charley Hull, Lydia Ko, Minjee Lee, Jeeno Thitikul, and many other elite LPGA stars.

Caitlin Clark’s presence may have sparked temporary attention, but the LPGA’s broader push for consistent, high-quality coverage signals lasting change. With new leadership and stronger media partnerships, women’s golf is steadily building the visibility it deserves.