Just yesterday, Caitlin Clark said at the Women’s Leadership Summit program held by the LPGA that all she wanted to do at The ANNIKA was not hit a fan. It was a hilarious comment yesterday; today it has become almost reality. The “average golfer”, on her own account, has begun her day with a bad first shot, almost hitting a group of fans, but that’s not even what has left others frustrated. Rather, it’s her ‘crybaby’ behavior.

At the Iowa vs South Carolina NCAA Final earlier this year, CC could be seen complaining to the refs about bad officiating. While some sympathized, most commenters thought she was needlessly ‘whining.’ The same has occurred at The ANNIKA now, where Clark is teeing it up with Annika Sorenstam herself, as well as World No. 1 Nelly Korda. As Andy Froemel wrote on X, “I am so mad I wasn’t recording.”

“Caitlin complained about the 180 par 3 being too long, she had a 3 Wood or Hybrid. I said I’d be hitting Driver. She said I should have hit Driver.” Ever since No. 22 has stepped foot in the WNBA, there have certainly been moments where other players have seemingly targeted her with fouls. Some would say calling those out is justified, while others would say it’s all part of the game.

But the behavior continuing in the LPGA is what has some worried. Especially as her first hit came so close to turning into a disaster. Just yesterday, Clark had said, “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. Just going to try not to hit anyone standing outside of the ropes. But it’ll be fun. I’m excited for it. I think I’m just excited honestly. I’m not a professional golfer, so I think just having fun.”

Froemerl also posted on X a video of Clark playing around with a golf club with audiences laughing the background. He captioned it, “Caitlin definitely has broken a club when playing with Kate and Gabbie at Iowa.” Clark, Kate Martin, and Gabbie Marshall, the trio of strong Hawkeyes, used to frequent the golf course at Iowa too, to take a break from basketball.

Playing with Korda and Sorenstam has to be a plus point for Clark but all fans can seemingly think about is the numerous technical fouls she has picked up for bickering with officials in the W. The same happened in the NCAA, especially when the Hawkeyes played against the Mountaineers in the Round of 32. But the Iowa sensation’s antics overshadowed her performance.

While there’s less chance of fouls occurring in a non-team game like golf, there’s still scope for controversy it seems. As for the fouls committed against her this season, the Rookie of the Year expressed some surprise.

Caitlin Clark says refs “see something different on court”

Remember Chennedy Carter shoulder-checked Caitlin Clark in a Fever vs. Sky game, a foul that was so intentional, fans were surprised it took the league until later, on Fever’s plea of rechecking the video, to upgrade it to a flagrant-1. Then in the first round of the playoffs, DiJonai Carrington seemingly, accidentally, hit Clark in the face, giving her a black eye. One of these incidents was called out, the other wasn’t. And these were not the only ones.

In a Fever vs. Aces game post the Olympic break, Clark had not been at her personal best efficiency, scoring 16 points on 6-of-22 shooting. But No. 22 later revealed she was not happy with how the officiating went.

“The offensive fouls are definitely surprising at times,” Clark said. “I feel like I do get held and get quite a bit of contact throughout the games, and then you get hit with some of those when you take some contact and give contact back. It is what it is. I don’t know. Apparently, they [WNBA refs] see something different.”

Officiating is always going to clash with players and teams, as we have seen, and sometimes not even video reviewing helps, no matter the sport. Whether Caitlin Clark’s complaints are valid or not, well, that may be a matter of personal opinion at this point.