Caitlin Clark was breathing a sigh of relief on Wednesday morning after narrowly avoiding smashing a golf ball into a fan’s head at a celebrity golf tournament.
The WNBA superstar swapped the basketball court for the golf course to appear in the Pro-Am golf tournament at The Annika in Florida, but nerves seemed to get the better of her in front of a big crowd on the third hole.
Lining up her shot with a driver, Clark accidentally shanked it straight into the fans watching on to the left, narrowly avoiding disaster and sparking a shocked reaction from the hundreds watching on.
The ball was just inches from hitting fans at very fast speed, in what surely would have resulted in serious injury.
Immediately, the basketball icon can be seen apologizing, while the crowd laughs at her mistake, before lining up another ball to try again.
At her second attempt, Clark keeps the ball straight and avoids further disaster.
Despite only narrowly avoiding injury, it appears the fans did not mind and quickly chased after the lost ball in a bid to find a souvenir to take home.
The course was lined with fans in Indiana Fever 22 jerseys, with Clark the big draw for the celebrity tournament at The Pelican Club.
It was a topsy-turvy round for the basketball star, who has only recently started playing golf and was appearing in front of her largest crowd yet away from the basketball court.
Clark mixed some brilliant approach shots with some below-par duffs, showing she is human after all in the wake of a dominant rookie season in the WNBA.
Later in her round, she topped a fairway wood and could be heard muttering ‘oh no’ under her breath.
Clark was playing alongside two of golf’s greatest icons, World No. 1 Nelly Korda and 10-time major winner Annika Sorenstam.
Speaking ahead of Wednesday’s competition, the 22-year-old, who revealed she plays off a handicap of 16, hilariously admitted she’d set her standards a lot lower than that.
‘I’ve tried to practice as much as I can. I’m just the average golfer. I’m going to hit some good, I’m going to hit some bad. It is what it is.’
