The LPGA circuit had a big celebrity moment in 2024 with Caitlin Clark. The WNBA superstar joined Nelly Korda and Annika Sörenstam for a pro-am round on Wednesday at the ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge. “It was so amazing. She’s so sweet, so nice. It was nice get to spend some time with her. We’ve messaged a little on Instagram beforehand, but to get to spend some time with her and to see the influence that she has on people, bringing people out here, and to see how amazing of an influence she is just for sports, was really cool to see firsthand today,” Korda said.

The round in Florida began at 7 AM ET, with Golf Channel airing live play as it started its Golf Today show at 11 AM, 90 minutes earlier than usual. Are pro-ams so worthy of attention that a leading broadcaster changed its timing? Partially, the numbers favored Clark, contributing to the WNBA Finals averaging 1.6 million viewers, up 115% from 2023. While Nelly Korda is a superstar in women’s golf, she hasn’t influenced broadcasting times. So, are there solutions to that now that the LPGA has a new commissioner?

In May, the LPGA circuit announced Craig Kessler as the new commissioner. Although he has yet to officially start, Kessler shared some goals, including bringing “visibility.” He stated, “making sure that the incredible stars the LPGA has who leave it on the course week-in and week-out are actually visible, and that goes beyond just the broadcasts.” Whether he will achieve this remains to be seen, but veteran LPGA star Mel Reid has some suggestions.

On the latest episode of Quite Please! With Mel & Kira, Reid shared how she would draw in numbers at LPGA like Clark did for WNBA. “First of all, we need to get people through the gate, getting the community involved, and like make it an actual event. Like—I need people through the door. I would just give free tickets for two years. But that’s just me,” Reid shared.

Of course, the numbers do not work in the circuit’s favor. The LPGA reportedly faced a $2 million operating loss in 2024, despite record performances from stars like Nelly Korda. Tournament cancellations became common. The $2 million Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship was among them, canceled after the underwriter failed to meet payment obligations.

Besides these, Reid has another special solution up her sleeve: bringing in celebrities and star sportswomen into golf pro-ams. “I feel like we need to get more of an umbrella around other women’s sports. So like, I would get, like, celebrities involved. Like, I would get like, you in a Pro-am because you’re a celeb, you’re an Emmy winner, for God’s sake. So many of my friends like, or people that I know in like the soccer world, like the Cricket world like, they are desperate to play in these Pro-ams, and like, why are you not just inviting them?” 

Of course, there are important moments to back up Mel Reid’s comments. For instance, in 2023, actor Alfonso Ribeiro was present at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions and said, “What I truly take from (LPGA players) is their tempo. They just have, I think perfect tempo. It’s actually closer to our own golf swing as an amateur, where the guys on the PGA Tour, they swing as hard as you can imagine. None of us could ever do that.” Similary, in 2024, Caitlin Clark shared her off-season plans, “Maybe play some golf. That’s what I’m gonna do until it becomes too cold in Indiana. So I got that. I’ll become a professional golfer.” So, golf is pretty popular.

The viewership side of the LPGA is witnessing gloomy numbers. The Riviera Maya Open on May 24, 2025, attracted only 187,000 viewers, with just 43,000 in the 18-49 demographic and 50,000 in the 25-54 age group. The Black Desert Championship on May 4, 2025, performed even worse, drawing only 91,000 viewers, including 7,000 in the 18-49 demographic and 9,000 in the 25-54 group. These gloomy numbers mean the golf world is expecting Nelly Korda to bring in some Caitlin Clark-like numbers.

The women’s golf celebrity Nelly Korda urged to get out of her shell

In 2024, Nelly Korda faced an interesting question: Do you think LPGA capitalized on the increase in women’s sports? Korda replied, “I mean, obviously I’m the one hitting a golf ball, but at the end of the day I don’t know the logistics behind everything. I focus on my career and what I’m doing, so I don’t really know if I can answer that question.” In golf, Korda reached a rare level of success. She secured seven wins, the most by an LPGA player since 2011 and the highest for an American woman since 1990. Her celebrity status also grew as she attended the Met Gala and appeared in the latest Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition.

But she’s still in her shell. The LPGA constantly fails to capitalize on her name, unlike the WNBA, which successfully leveraged Clark’s popularity. Clark eventually brought millions in wins and revenue to the game. In a recent interview on 5 Clubs, golf reporter Beth Ann Nichols shared her feelings on the matter. Ann Nichols said, “At the same time, I think it is important for her to always have the bigger picture of the LPGA in the back of her mind. I hope that the new commissioner, Craig Kessler, is able to establish a rapport with her. So that if the Tour needs something, he can pick up the phone and call Nelly Korda.” 

In 2024, when Nelly Korda discussed these issues with Golf Digest, she said “Primetime TV” would solve the problem. “I think we need primetime TV. We need more hours on TV. I mean, we have a great product out here. We have so many amazing stories. We just need to be on primetime TV.”