Ninth tee jitters from one of the most clutch basketball players the world has ever seen? Golf will do it to ya.
The Indiana Fever star and former Iowa standout is used to having the spotlight on her. She’s played in front of thousands of people countless times and has found herself time and time again in high pressure situations. Yet when the basketball arena is traded out for a golf course, the nerves still got the best of Caitlin Clark.
Caitlin was playing in The Annika pro-am golf event at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Florida. She was paired up with world No. 1 Nelly Korda for the front nine, and then played with the tournament host – LPGA legend Annika Sorenstam – on the back nine. And right before the No. 1 pick from the 2024 WNBA draft made the turn, she hit a terrible, no-good, very bad tee shot.
Now I’ve seen others online call it a shank. Let me assure you, as a golfer that has hit plenty of shanks, that is not what this is. A shank (sometimes called a “hosel rocket”) would have made a beeline straight right into the crowd of people standing over in that direction. I don’t really know what to call what this shot ended up being, other than a violently errant pull.
Take a look:
Caitlin Clark sent a tee shot right towards a group of fans.
She immediately reloads. 😂pic.twitter.com/tKP2Jgv82D
— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) November 13, 2024
Sheesh… that was dangerous. Though I love that she just pulled another ball right out of her pocket and teed it up again. Real golfers know that you always keep a spare ball at the ready.
What makes matters worse is the quote she provided right before she started playing. Clark voiced that she had one goal and one goal only as she teed it up in the pro-am event:
“Just going to try not to hit anyone standing outside of the ropes.”
That’s unfortunate. But I’ll tell you what, those standing in the crowd on the left were very fortunate they didn’t take this Caitlin-Clark-hit golf ball to the dome. Someone did eventually get hit by the ball, but it was after it had gotten through the gallery at eye-level, so the damage was much less serious than if someone would have gotten hit in the noggin.
Here’s another angle of the tee shot, just for good measure:
Not your typical Caitlin Clark courtside seats, that's for sure.
(via _homeofdiesel//TikTok) pic.twitter.com/nN7KzNMiki
— GOLF.com (@GOLF_com) November 13, 2024
Terrifying.
Like I said, the ball did end up making contact with someone, so Clark did the classy sorry-I-hit-you-with-a-golf-ball gesture and signed something for the fan. After she apologized, she also jokingly thanked the person for the “good kick” that she got off of the gallery member:
“Thanks for the good kick, whoever I hit.” – Caitlin Clark on the par-3 ninth after missing one left in the crowd. She autographed a ball for the fan and apologized. pic.twitter.com/dmTahbAZx7
— Beth Ann Nichols (@GolfweekNichols) November 13, 2024
Handled it like a real pro’s pro.
And I know I’ve focused in on just that one shot from Caitlin. She’s actually a rather respectable golfer, and boasts a 16-handicap (for those non-golfers, that just means she would regularly shoot 16-over-par on any given golf course). That means that she’s going to hit some bad shots – like the one that’s going viral right now – just as much as she’s going to hit some good shots.
Like this one:
Solid approach shot by Caitlin Clark. 🎯👏 pic.twitter.com/9j2SLywXf2
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) November 13, 2024
See? Clark has some game. Though I think she’d be the first one to tell you that she’s much more comfortable – and deadly in a good way – when she’s on the basketball court.
