Iowa hoop star Caitlin Clark tees it up at John Deere Pro-Am

SILVIS, Illinois — After main the Iowa Hawkeyes to their first NCAA ladies’s basketball championship sport, being consensus nationwide participant of the yr and profitable the Honda Cup as the highest collegiate ladies’s athlete, Caitlin Clark added one other honor to her 2023 listing of accomplishments. She received to play golf alongside U.S. Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson, a fellow Iowa native, on Wednesday.

Clark, an avid golf fan who has performed since childhood, competed within the John Deere Traditional Professional-Am at TPC Deere Run.

“It is simply distinctive and particular; I have not had many alternatives to play a unique sport, and at a PGA Tour occasion,” Clark stated. “I am a giant fan of golf. I like to play and be round it. Each Sunday I normally have the TV on and I am watching.

“Clearly, a giant fan of Zach. We labored on my chipping a bit, leaning extra on my entrance foot.”

Clark teed off at 8:08 a.m. native time, splitting the golf green on her opening drive. She drew a big crowd; the course is within the higher Quad Cities space, nearly 70 miles from the place Clark is understood for making from-the-logo 3-pointers and pinpoint passes at Carver-Hawkeye Area in Iowa Metropolis, Iowa.

Many spectators had been sporting No. 22 shirts as they lined the fairways, pleading for autographs from Clark, who saved busy signing all through the 18 holes. Johnson grinned when requested concerning the final time he may need been the second-most fashionable Iowan on a golf course.

“Properly, Connor McCaffery was strolling with us at the moment, too, so I am in all probability third or fourth down the listing,” Johnson stated, referring to Clark’s boyfriend, who performed for his father, Fran McCaffery, on Iowa’s males’s basketball staff. “That is superior, man. I would not have it another method.”

Connor, Clark’s dad and mom and youthful brother, and Iowa ladies’s assistant coach Jan Jensen adopted Clark all 18 holes. Her former membership basketball coach, Dickson Jensen, caddied for her. Clark and her group of amateurs had been paired with professional Ludvig Aberg for the primary 9 holes after which with Johnson for the again 9.

Johnson is a 12-time winner on the PGA Tour, together with two main championships, and 6 appearances as a participant within the Ryder Cup. Born in Iowa Metropolis, Johnson grew up in Cedar Rapids and performed collegiately at Drake in Des Moines, which is the place Clark is from.

Clark stated she is trying ahead to watching the Ryder Cup, which might be Sept. 29-Oct. 1 in Italy. Iowa, which completed 31-7 final season and upset the beforehand undefeated South Carolina Gamecocks within the nationwide semifinals earlier than shedding to the LSU Tigers within the closing, might be enjoying in Italy on a staff tour in August.

“If Coach [Lisa] Bluder needs to let me skip the primary month of faculty and keep in Italy [for the Ryder Cup], I might be completely fantastic with that,” Clark stated, smiling. “However I doubt that occurs.”

Clark began her spherical Wednesday robust on the entrance 9, however acknowledged she ran out of fuel on the again 9, because the temperature peaked at 90 levels. Since it’s a pro-am and the amateurs choose up on sure holes, Clark did not have an actual rating. Suffice to say, although, she hit loads of fairways and putted for birdie just a few occasions, simply lacking. Golf is only a enjoyable sport for her, however she will maintain her personal.

“I had a solo par to start out the day, which was good,” Clark stated. “I wasn’t too nervous on the primary tee. It was form of, ‘Do not waste time, simply go up there and hit it.’ It assume it is the identical with basketball. You must settle into the sport a little bit bit.

“I believe Zach would say the psychological facet of basketball or golf is far more necessary that the bodily ability. I am solely 21, so having the ability to be taught that has been arduous, however it actually is true. You’ve one unhealthy factor, you must recuperate. Whether or not it is a turnover or a missed putt.”

This previous season, Clark averaged 27.8 factors (second in Division I) and eight.6 assists, which led the nation. She might be a senior this fall, however due to the COVID-19 waiver, she may play two extra years in school. Clark, who might be a WNBA No. 1 draft choose, has stated she would not count on to make her determination on a fifth yr in school till after the season.

Johnson stated that on the Masters in April, he talked to WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert, who stated she hoped Clark turns professional in 2024. Johnson joked he is truly making an attempt to get Clark three extra years of eligibility at Iowa. He additionally stated that on April 2, the Sunday earlier than the Drive, Chip and Putt contest at Augusta Nationwide, there was loads of chatter concerning the Iowa-LSU sport.

“The thrill round Augusta Nationwide that afternoon was the [women’s championship game] developing that afternoon,” Johnson stated. “I believe that speaks volumes of the place the game goes. What occurred this yr within the NCAA ladies’s event, to me as an Iowan, but in addition a fan of sports activities, was simply spectacular.

“I am a fan of the state and those who excel at a excessive degree. This younger girl is transcendent given her expertise, however I can not converse extremely sufficient about how she handles herself.”