NAPLES — The gallery was energized. Fans were rows deep … around the tee box and along the fairways and greens. Hundreds of autograph seekers were on the hunt.
This was the scene at Pelican Golf Club in Pinellas County on Nov. 13 during the week of an LPGA event. But it wasn’t for Nelly Korda or Lexi Thompson or Lydia Ko … or any other LPGA star. And it wasn’t even during one of the four days of The Annika.
This was on Wednesday. During the pro-am. And for one of the most recognizable female athletes in the world, basketball superstar Caitlin Clark.
Clark was the best thing that happened to the LPGA Tour last week, and that’s counting Korda winning for the seventh time this season. The WNBA star played 18 holes, splitting her round alongside Korda and Annika Sorenstam.
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LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan called Clark and Korda “two of the biggest superstars in women’s sports.”
But one of them clearly has become transcendental.
That one day encapsulated the growing popularity of women’s sports, which is led by Clark, who single-handedly transformed women’s basketball, first at the University of Iowa and now with the Indiana Fever.
While the LPGA Tour has grown its brand and continues smashing marks with higher purses, some of the league’s most notable stars believe there is more to be done.
The LPGA, they say, has not quite caught that wave and a lot of that has to do with getting more eyeballs on the sport and the personalities.
“I think women’s sports in general are on such a high right now and moving in the right direction, whether it’s growing in each sport or golf in general,” Thompson, the Delray Beach resident, said.
“Our TV coverage has increased (but) I think there is a lot more room for improvement. There are so many talents out here and so many stories that we can really focus on and really bring in a bigger fan base than what we have.”
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The CME Group Championship starts Thursday at Tiburon and the winner will receive $4 million, the largest single prize in women’s golf history. That’s more than every PGA Tour event this season with the exception of The Players ($4.5 million) and U.S. Open ($4.3 million).
The tour announced Wednesday more than $131 million will be distributed in prize money in 2025, the largest in its 75-year history and an increase of $62 million in four years.
Yet, Saturday’s third round of the season-ending event that will crown the LPGA’s season-long points champion will not be televised live. Instead, it will be shown from 4-7 p.m. on Golf Channel. Play is expected to conclude around 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
“That’s (BS), isn’t it?,” said Terry Duffy, group chairman and CEO of CME, which announced a two-year extension Wednesday to continue sponsoring the CME Group Championship. “I think that’s inappropriate for a tournament of this magnitude to be on tape delay. I have told Mollie I don’t like that. I will leave it in her hands to see where that ultimately ends up.
“If you are going to continue to build women’s sports, you have to give them the same billing as men and stop the nonsense of saying we have to show the men’s tournament because they’re the men.”
The PGA Tour’s RSM Classic will air live Sunday from 1-4 p.m. on Golf Channel.
“I think we need primetime TV,” said Korda, who has clinched the 2024 Rolex Player of the Year. “We need more hours on TV. I mean, we have a great product out here. We have so many amazing stories. We just need to be on primetime TV.”
Nelly Korda appears in Sports Illustrated 2025 Swimsuit edition
Korda did her part in trying to get the LPGA more exposure by taking part in a photo shoot for the Sports Illustrated 2025 Swimsuit edition.
“I think that’s what’s great about these opportunities is that you do get to step outside your comfort zone and do something different,” Korda said last week at The Annika. “I was just really excited for the opportunity to do this. I mean, it was so cool. The whole crew was amazing. By the end of day, I was having so much fun with them.”
Marcoux Samaan’s State of the Tour address Wednesday accentuated the positives, which is expected, and she did say the LPGA Tour has room to grow, especially the fan base.
She referenced the financial investment when she said “we’re proud of the role that we’ve played in elevating women’s sports in general,” and added, “I think we’re experiencing enormous growth.”
Both of which are valid. But Marcoux Samaan is not in full agreement with her superstars when she says, “I don’t think anyone can say we haven’t captured on this momentum (in women’s sports) in the last couple of years.”
Thompson probably summed it up best this week.
“I think there is just more room for improvement,” she said. “We’re improving right now, but there is a lot more to go.”
Tom D’Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at tdangelo@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: LPGA Tour needs to take advantage of Caitlin Clark-led wave in women’s sports
