Through the first five days, the LPGA’s week at the Annika achieved the short-term goal.
Buzz. Impressions. Chatter.
The week started with a relatively packed press conference for 18-year-old Kai Trump, the granddaughter of President Donald Trump, who was in the field thanks to a sponsor invite from the Doyle Family, who own Pelican Golf Club. There are two ways to view the Trump invite. She is the 461st-ranked junior golfer in the world and has never teed it up in a USGA event. Given the stakes of the penultimate event on the schedule, Trump is undeserving of a spot in the field. She has LPGA aspirations and will play collegiately at the University of Miami, but it was clear that this week would be a massive step up in competition for her — one that would almost certainly end in high scores and a missed cut. But the point of Trump’s invite was about a different number— her over 8 million social media followers. And if her brief stop at the Pelican delivered the type of attention that can help the LPGA break through to a different audience, isn’t that worth a swing?
2 ways to think about Kai Trump’s controversial LPGA invite
Once Trump’s participation was announced, the Annika became the type of conversation-driving event the LPGA needs to figure out a way to recreate on a regular basis without a celebrity in the field. That was the idea.
WNBA star Caitlin Clark’s return appearance at Wednesday’s pro-am delivered even more eyeballs, both in person and on social media.
Per data obtained by Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols, Clark’s pro-am appearance generated 2,693 posts on X, which led to 241,704 engagements and 18,325,849 impressions. The tournament’s Instagram account saw a 591 percent increase in views year-over-year. On site, there were crowds several rows deep trying to get a view of the WNBA superstar alongside Nelly Korda. The crowds weren’t as big as they were for Clark’s 2024 pro-am appearance, but the gravitational pull of her star power was still evident as she smiled and laughed her way through nine holes while working on her improving game.
“I think it just shows how powerful supporting women can truly be,” Clark said during a walk-and-talk with Golf Channel during the pro-am. “I’ve always been a big advocate of that, of supporting women’s sports. And always been a big fan of whether it’s golf or soccer, volleyball or whatever it is.”
