He is the man who has seen and experienced every aspect of the golf industry.
He has persevered through career-ending injuries, stared down impossible shots, and redefined greatness for a generation. Tiger Woods was there, however, apparently standing “frozen” and gazing at a scoreboard “as if it had just glitched.” He wasn’t watching a PGA competitor; instead, he was watching a basketball player in her twenties who had just entered a golf course for a “calm” pro-am and, in her own words, was “having fun” by breaking golf records.
The “Biggest Concern” of the Fever coach is bringing Caitlin Clark back into the offense. The athlete in question? Caitlin Clark. The occasion? Prior to her name showing up on the list, the RSM Classic Pro-Am was a low-key, informal competition. The “Caitlin Clark effect” exploded as soon as she was confirmed. Suddenly, tickets that had been “sitting unsolved for weeks” were “gone in hours.” On the day of the event, the whole scene was changed by sunrise. It was a sea of Indiana Fever basketball jerseys, not your average golf crowd. “Welcome to the first crossover of sports history: the basketball meets birdies,” one commentator jokingly said.
This was not a staged moment in the media. The event “originally wasn’t even going to be televised,” in fact. Only after fans “emailed the organization,” pleading, “How can we watch Caitlyn? Broadcasters rushed to get the feed on air after hearing the question, “Can you live stream it?” In an act of pure “marketing genius,” the LPGA took advantage of the chance. They “did it all right” by matching Clark with Nelly Korda, the current world number one golfer, so that the millions of viewers would witness both their own best talent and the biggest attraction in sports.
The performance followed. As Clark approached the first tee box, grinning “like this was just another day at practice,” the thousands in attendance fell “quiet.” She had a driver in her hand instead of a basketball. She inhaled and swung. The ball “flew like it had a personal GPS,” and the sound was “pure contact, clean, sharp.” It landed in the center of the fairway, 270 yards down. The audience “lost it.” According to reports, Tiger Woods chuckled and muttered, “That’s the best first swing I’ve ever seen from a non-pro.”
Inside Caitlin Clark’s personal life after a significant makeover | HELLO! Now closely observing, the sports world erupted. “Caitlin Clark might just be better than me at this point,” tweeted Steph Curry, a good golfer in his own right. That tweet alone “broke the internet.” She was referred to by ESPN as “the most natural crossover athlete since Michael Jordan.” But Clark was just getting warmed up.
On hole seven, a difficult par four that “even PGA pros mess up,” the historic shot was made. The ball took off after Clark, who “doesn’t do safe,” swung, “landed perfectly on the green rolled and stopped inches from the cup.” The audience let out a gasp before exploding. She broke the previous pro-am record by finishing the round 13 under par. She famously said, “I didn’t even know what the record was,” in response to a later question about it.
The “boom” in business was as astounding as the score. The demand for tickets increased by 1,200%, but that was only the beginning. According to reports, Clark signed three new major endorsement deals within 48 hours of her record-breaking round: one with a beverage company, one with a high-end watch brand, and one with a golf apparel company. The total value of those transactions was “more than $15 million.” She literally earned more money in a single golf weekend than “the majority of WNBA players make in their lifetimes.” “Higher viewership than most LPGA finals” was attracted to the broadcast itself.
This story, however, is about the ensuing deafening silence as much as the historic performance. The WNBA’s most boisterous areas “suddenly went quiet” as the golf community and the broader sports community celebrated her. According to the report, “when she made history in another sport, A’ja Wilson, Angel Reese, and a few others suddenly lost their Wi-Fi.” The hypocrisy was immediately apparent to fans. One comment that went viral said, “Funny how Caitlyn’s breaking golf records and all her so-called rivals turned into ghosts.” “They had time to throw shade all year but no time to say congrats,” another person said more bluntly. No words could express what that silence did.
Since Tiger Woods, is Caitlin Clark the most significant athlete? That’s what this reporter believes. There was a sharp contrast with the LPGA. Maria Fassi and Nelly Korda, two of their best players, were “showing her full respect.” “You belong here,” Fassi said as he approached Clark. We’ve been lacking something, and Caitlyn’s energy is pure. She was “often treated like a threat in basketball; in golf, she was treated like a teammate.”
This incident ruthlessly revealed what supporters had been yelling for months: the LPGA “knows how to celebrate greatness,” while the WNBA “just tries to hide” its biggest star. While the LPGA benefited from “talent,” the WNBA has been charged with encouraging “drama.” Clark gave a timeless, cool, and “just a bit savage” response when asked why her competitors were silent: “I’m focused on what makes me happy.” That’s competing in any sport.
The golf god himself gave his final blessing. “That was one of the cleanest, most confident swings I’ve ever seen from someone outside professional golf,” Tiger Woods, who was no longer in a state of shock, told reporters. According to reports, he was so impressed that pictures of Tiger speaking privately with Caitlyn later “surfaced.” He allegedly “offered her a private training session,” which is a rare honor. This is the “Clark Effect” at its most extreme. She alters their economies, viewership, and discourses in addition to playing sports. She transformed a “calm” weekend into a “movement” and a $15 million payout. “We stopped being surprised a long time ago,” her father said, laughing, to reporters.
She sees it as just another competitive day, even though the rest of the world may be shocked. This isn’t about basketball vs. golf. A transcendent athlete who “doesn’t know how to do average” is the subject of the story. After signing autographs for all the children who asked, she was asked if she would consider becoming a full-time member of the LPGA as she was leaving the 18th hole. “Let’s just say I’m keeping my options open,” she said with a simple shrug.
