Caitlin Clark sliced her shot and almost hit a crowd member at the 2024 Annika Pro-Am. Fortunately, no one was hit, and the WNBA star responded with a quick “sorry” that drew laughter from the gallery. As many expected, a huge crowd had swarmed around Clark last year at the Pro-Am, and the same is expected for this year. However, Clark’s consistent participation at the Pro-Am actually predates the growth of the tournament as a whole. 

“Do you think that her involvement is helping raise up the Annika program, or are they like: listen, she’s one of our average ones, we’re just trying to bring her on board with what we typically do around here?” asked Zena Keita on No Offseason: the Athletic Women’s Basketball Podcast. Gabby Erzig, who is the Athletic’s Golf writer, explained the exact purpose of Caitlin Clark’s feature in this tournament. 

“I think it has for sure elevated, just like people’s awareness of the event. The actual purse is for is reserved for the 4-day tournament that the professionals are playing in. The Pro-Am is kind of just more of a hit-and-giggle fun exhibition event, which is what Caitlin is playing in,” Erzig explained, “So, it’s one day, one-off, more so for like the photo ops and the content than the actual competition. But I think for sure last year we saw a bump in just the amount of people talking about the tournament, and that’s exactly what the sponsor is looking for by inviting someone like Caitlin.”

With regards to Clark, the golfer, she is absolutely inferior to Nelly Korda, a two-time major winner whom she will be competing against. As evidenced by that hilarious incident we discussed above. She is an amateur in the Pro-Am. Her participation is to draw attention. That she is doing as well as almost no one. According to Scott Agness of the Field House Files, her presence last year led to an increase in attendance of more than 1,200%. However, the prize money was already rising before Clark came along. 

“But over the past few years, we have seen huge purse increases on the LPGA, which has been an ongoing trend. But I think that inviting someone like Caitlin and having those names associated with the event can never hurt, and it’s just good from a social media engagement standpoint for the LPGA, and it’s a really nice bump to have someone like her involved,” Erzig further said. 

The tournament opened in 2020 with a prize pool of $1.75 million. In 2022, the LPGA and Pelican Golf Club extended the contract through 2025. And the prize money was bumped to $2.0 million. In 2023, the tournament became affiliated with The Annika as its namesake, and the prize money increased to $3.25 million. 

Clark’s presence is giving them more eyes. But that hasn’t translated to increased prize money for the professional golfers in the tournament so far. However, there could be a plan in the works to leverage Clark’s popularity to grow the LPGA in the future. While Clark’s appearance created buzz around the Pro-Am, the real question is whether her star power has translated into tangible growth for the LPGA itself.

Former Golfer Lays Out Plan To Capitalise on The Caitlin Clark-Effect

It’s not easy to grow a league based on 1 player. However WNBA has successfully done so in the past couple of years. You just need that spark, and the sport can flourish. Clark has already facilitated an increase in women’s basketball in the grassroots. More girls are interested in the sport ever since its rise. Can the LPGA somehow do the same with the eyes that Clark is bringing to the league? Retired golfer Karen Stupples explained what needs to be done. 

“You’ve got to go where she’s playing basketball to those towns and cities and try to get them involved in the LPGA tour more, try and host an event nearby so more fans can come and see more LPGA events. You’ve got to make it easy for people to watch again once they’ve seen what’s available.” Stupples said on the Golf Channel. 

Caitlin Clark has brought people into the gate. Now it’s the LPGA’s job to go to them and appease the new fans. Golf is not a sport that often comes naturally to young girls. The LPGA will need to adopt the push strategy to attract the audience and inspire new players. Possibly, they can introduce Clark-based merchandise to increase their revenue base. 

It would also build curiosity towards the sport. Another unique idea they can pursue is to host a friendly game between top golf players in the WNBA. Naturally, that will include Clark and will also bring audience from different fan bases in the WNBA. There are multiple avenues they can pursue. In any case, Clark has given them a base to build on.