LPGA’s penultimate event has 2 big-name draws. Neither are pros

The Annika driven by Gainbridge has an impressive commitment list that includes Nelly Korda, Lexi Thompson and Charley Hull. That field for the LPGA’s penultimate event added another big name Tuesday when Kai Trump, the 18-year-old granddaughter of President Donald Trump, announced she would be making her LPGA debut at Pelican Golf Club in Gainbridge, thanks to a sponsor’s invite.

“It has been a dream of mine to compete at the professional level, and I’d like to thank the Pelican Golf Club for the invitation,” said Trump, who has verbally committed to play college golf at the University of Miami. “I’m looking forward to teeing it up and competing with the best players in the world at one of the most premier venues on tour.”

Trump is ranked No. 979 in the Universal Golf Rankings’ junior girls list. Trump’s biggest tournament to date was the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley, where she finished last in a field of 24 golfers, shooting 52 over with rounds of 89-79-83-89. However, in July, Trump finished third in a South Florida PGA Srixon Medalist Tour event. Trump also has a huge social media following, which includes 1.3 million subscribers on YouTube and 3.5 million on TikTok. According to recruiting website On3, Trump has a Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) valuation of $1.2 million.

Kai Trump won’t be the only big-name non-LPGA player teeing it up at Pelican. WNBA star Caitlin Clark will once again tee it up in the pro-am on Wednesday. Clark, who was the WNBA’s Rookie of the Year in 2024, played in last year’s pro-am alongside Nelly Korda and Annika Sorenstam, which drew a massive crowd.

“It was a great to see how relaxed she was,” Korda said of playing with Clark. “Obviously with the media attention she has gotten probably in the past year and a half, two years, you can see how she’s comfortable playing in front of a larger crowd. And she was just really enjoying it. You can tell. Like she’s definitely very talented. She was picking the ball really clean. She was losing a couple shots to the right, but I asked her how many times a week she plays, and I think with the amount of obligations she has, she probably gets to the golf course once a week. So, for just playing once a week, she was playing really well.”

The 120-player field at the Annika is the final LPGA event before the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Fla.

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