Over the past several years, basketball fans have gotten a lot of enjoyment out of watching Caitlin Clark, both during her time with the Iowa Hawkeyes and more recently with the Indiana Fever this past season. It’s easy for fans to appreciate her unmatched shooting prowess and game-breaking abilities, seeing her do things that they never could.
Fans are also enjoying seeing her do things in the offseason that they do often. One of those things is an attempt to play golf.
On Wednesday, Clark officially teed it up at The Annika tournament at the Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Florida, as part of the LPGA’s Pro-Am event. Hundreds of spectators gathered around the tee box to watch her first drive.
It didn’t quite look as smooth as one of her drained 30-foot shots on the court.
Instead, Clark shanked it badly, nearly hitting a fan in the gallery.
That feeling of a pulled tee shot is relatable for anyone who has tried to play golf before. Clark quickly reached into her pocket and pulled out another ball — another very relatable action for amateur golfers — and reloaded, saying that she should get to move up to shorter tees.
The crowd on hand loved it, getting to see a new side of one of the best WNBA players in the world. The video quickly gained traction online, with many viewers claiming that Clark, finally, is “one of us.”
Despite the result of the first tee shot, it was a special moment for Clark, who got to play the first nine holes of the day alongside LPGA superstar Nelly Korda. Clark and Korda shared a special moment before the tournament teed off, participating in a “jersey swap” ahead of their round on Wednesday morning.
While Clark is a competitor by nature, most golfers are familiar the type of pressure that she was feeling standing over the ball on the first tee (even if on a smaller scale). She has dealt with high-intensity moments endlessly in her career, and usually delivered. But in a sport where she has little experience and far less practice than on the hardwood, it’s fair to assume that her heart rate got going a bit quickly on the tee box.
Who can blame her? In the end, it offered an fun and relatable bit of content and something that fans will remember for a long time. Truly, one of us.
