An avid golfer when she’s not raining 3s on the hardwood, Caitlin Clark is skipping the LPGA Pro-Am next month for the first time in her career.
After back-to-back appearances in the LPGA’s penultimate event, Clark is taking time away from the links following the Indiana Fever’s season-ending loss to the Las Vegas Aces in the first round of the WNBA playoffs on Thursday night.
“She is not going to be playing this year,” Mike Nichols, chief of sponsorship strategy and activation for Group 1001, told Golfweek on Thursday. “We have enjoyed the energy she has brought to the tournament the last two years and look forward to having her back in the future.”
Clark drew attention to the LPGA Pro-Am last November after Fever teammates Sophie Cunningham and Lexie Hull joined her as caddies, leading to extensive coverage of the event.
In the final game of her third WNBA season, Clark finished with 18 points, four assists, two steals, and six turnovers in Thursday night’s loss. She missed 12 of the 18 shots she took from the floor, including nine of her 12 attempts from 3-point range.
“This is like obviously the most basketball I’ve played at any year of my career. And to be completely honest with you, I didn’t take a break when our season ended last year,” Clark said after the game. “So I’ve been going for almost a year and a half or whatever it is now because I had to prepare for USA Basketball in December and then March and getting ready for our season. So I haven’t taken a break from the game in a really long time. So it’s been a long grind, but a really fun one and a very rewarding one.”
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Jack Maloney
Clark’s 2026 season came after playing only 13 games last summer due to injury.
“And obviously, I didn’t play much last year, but I was able to come out here and put together the best season I’ve had and perform at a really high level and basically get better in every area,” Clark said. “Still feel like I have so many areas to improve. So I guess that’s the most exciting part moving forward.”
What’s next for Clark
The Fever’s second straight postseason setback to the Aces ends a special week for Clark, who celebrated the launch of her first sneaker, the ‘Caitlin 1,’ on Thursday with Nike. The culmination of a multi-year process with the Swoosh, Clark played a pivotal role in the design and performance of her debut shoe, which is set to be available in more than a half-dozen colorways now through Christmas at major retailers.
Clark, who is signed to the Fever through the 2027 season, will once again be the face of the franchise next season in Indiana despite a potential different look for the roster. Cunningham’s a free agent along with Kelsey Mitchell, who averaged 24.7 points per game and took some of the pressure off Clark to fill it up every night.
“I love the work. I love being in the gym,” Clark said after finishing third in the WNBA in scoring (22.3 points per game) and second in assists (8.3 per game). “I’ll probably be kicked out for a little while, but we’ll get back to it.”