BELLEAIR, Fla. — Bradenton native Nelly Korda is the world's number-one women's golfer. This season, she's won a career-high six tournaments and aims to win her third Annika Tournament title in four years.
However, her presence at Wednesday's pro-am at the Pelican Golf Club was not the top reason for the abnormally large crowd rushing to Belleair before sunrise.
Most fanatic bystanders were sporting Indiana Fever gear as WNBA star Caitlin Clark played alongside Korda in the front nine of the 18-hole competition.
Clark is known for her shooting skills on the basketball court, but admits that her golf swing could use some work. A couple of her drives went wayward, while Korda's looked tethered to a rope. The contrast in their golfing abilities was drastic, but they had the same amount of fun.
"It was so amazing. She's so sweet, so nice. It was nice to kind of get to spend some time with her," Korda said. "We just felt like two friends hanging out."
"Obviously, getting to see them do what they do up front is like, people would pay for that. I got to do it for free and have fun," Clark said.
The 22-year-old WNBA star has been a golf fan since her childhood and admired Korda's game from afar. Similarly, Korda admires Clark's approach to being a top player in her sport.
"It was great to see how relaxed she was. 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." Korda said.
Clark played the back nine with tournament namesake and golf hall-of-famer Annika Sorenstam. She foresees Clark's presence having positive effects on women's golf.
"The effect that she has, I'm thinking young girls might say, 'well, maybe I don't play basketball I'll play golf.' They look up to her," Sorenstam said.
The Annika tournament begins Thursday and runs through Sunday.
