Nelly Korda Gushes Over Caitlin Clark’s ‘Influence’ Following Pro-Am Play

The WNBA star drew a large crowd to Pelican Golf Club on Nov. 13.

Caitlin Clark and Nelly Korda / Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images

Caitlin Clark entered the off-season with high ambitions where her golf game was concerned. Following the end of her rookie season with the Indiana Fever, the 22-year-old jokingly said that she had plans to become a professional golfer while on break from League play. Earlier this week, ahead of teeing it up at the pro-am at the Annika, she made it clear that her ambitions—while high—do not entail a career pivot from basketball to golf. “Everybody thought I was serious. I was not serious,” she said, according to ESPN. “I love it. I love being outside and making it competitive with my friends.”

For Clark, golf is just a hobby. But for the game of golf, Clark is still a difference-maker. That much was clear during her pro-am appearance on Nov. 13. Taking a look at the large crowds that Clark drew to Pelican Golf Club, the professional golfers on site couldn’t help but be impressed. “It can only help grow women’s golf,” American professional Brittany Lincicome said, according to AP News.

For the front nine holes, Clark teed it up alongside world No. 1 Nelly Korda, who got a front-row seat to watch the WNBA Rookie of the Year’s game (and witness her improvement under the recent direction of former LPGA player Martha Foyer-Faulconer). Needless to say, the pro golfer was impressed. “She’s definitely very talented. She was picking the ball really clean,” Korda said. “She was losing a couple shots to the right, but I asked her how many times a week she plays and I think with the amount of obligations she has, she probably gets to the golf course once a week.”

Caitlin Clark and Nelly Korda / Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images

But it wasn’t just Clark’s golf game that had Korda impressed. The pro, much like Lincicome, was likewise inspired by the basketball player’s influence in the sporting world. “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,” she said.

Clark is used to drawing a large crowd. When she began playing for the Fever this past spring, attendance at home games skyrocketed. And, as it turns out, fans are just as interested in Clark’s golf game as they are in her three-point shooting abilities. But the prospect of a large crowd on the golf course wasn’t daunting to the young star. “It was great to see how relaxed she was," Korda said. “Obviously with the media attention she has gotten probably in the past year-and-a-half, two years, you can see how she’s comfortable playing in front of a larger crowd. And she was just really enjoying it. You can tell.”