The ANNIKA 2025 has finally concluded. The event saw a new winner (29th for this season!) in Linn Grant. The Pelican Golf Club became almost like a centre of a cultural event, as fans stood five deep around the ropes. The Golf Channel roped in all the while. It was one of the most talked-about events of the year. That’s a success for the LPGA. However, it comes with a daunting task of maintaining this momentum. And how could that be achieved? Tournament host Annika Sorenstam has an answer.

The unavoidable question now looms in front of LPGA’s new commissioner, Craig Kessler. How does the Tour carry the electricity through the weekends? As per Sorenstam, the event’s players “can only do so much.” That’s likely why, like last year, Kessler and Co. turned their heads towards Caitlin Clark. The star WNBA player brought in what many call the “Caitlin Clark effect”.

Clark returned to Tampa with a twist. Unlike last year’s solo visit, this time she brought her Indiana Fever teammates Sophie Cunningham and Lexie Hull as guest caddies. The crossover of two major sports led many fans to jokingly (and maybe accurately?) call it an “Avengers-level crossover.” And just like the Marvel franchise has racked up good numbers, The ANNIKA too saw a spike. This has been observed in the men’s sides as well, when golfers meet tennis players or vice versa.

The pro-am, in which Clark played with Nelly Korda, generated a 591% increase in Instagram views over last year. The LPGA’s website traffic surged 121% and more than 2600 posts were mentioning Clark and The ANNIKA on X. The total impressions were around 18 million. Notably, there was a 63% increase in media coverage from 2024 to 2025, something that the LPGA has often struggled with, as put by Michelle Wie West recently.

“I think what we have seen is when somebody like Caitlin Clark comes here, there is an extra buzz,” admitted Sorenstam. “She brings more people into this event, more people watch. Pro-am was on TV or Golf Channel. I don’t think you could do that before.”

“Those are questions that are on the table for sure. We don’t necessarily have the answers, but we would love to continue that,” she added, giving food for thought to Kessler.

Also, Clark’s presence not only brought a new crowd to the event but also increased women’s sports visibility. Research shows that 66% of girls join sports due to the positive influence of female athletes in their lives. And 72% of girls have expressed a liking for sports after they see visible role models. This interest is bound to stay.

“When you bring in other female athletes…You could see it,” Sorenstam said. “It was different type of people, but they were like, ‘Oh, I want to try golf.’ They never come here for that reason.” Even Clark couldn’t help but gush over the numbers. “It’s always cool when you see the number of people that come out and want to support not only me, but just women’s sports in general,” she said.

Of course, there are also critics of this. Some believe that bringing in Caitlin Clark, or even Kai Trump (some believe she didn’t deserve to be there), to this event takes away the spotlight from women’s golf. But Annika Sorenstam thinks that’s going to change.

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Linn Grant’s win hints at the changing tides in the LPGA’s future

Linn Grant, the 26-year-old Swede, became this year’s 29th different champion. That’s the most the Tour has seen in 75 years, and a milestone even Annika Sorenstam didn’t expect could be achieved. For instance, the previous seasons – 1995, 2018, 2022 – saw 26 different champions.

But this year, the first 17 events featured 17 different women lifting the trophies. That’s bound to create a lot of murmurs. Interestingly, those initial 17 winners represented eight different countries, including four from South Korea. The LPGA, which has its home base in the US, needs that global pipeline. For this very reason, it has started conducting more events around the globe.

“It’s been an interesting year on the LPGA,” Sorenstam remarked. “It shows the depth of the Tour. I think we’re in a little bit of a transition.”

The shift is pretty obvious. LPGA prize money has jumped to $131 million in 2025, more than double what it was in 2021. The Tour is also playing at top-tier venues like Pelican, where Grant shot 19-under to finish three ahead of Jennifer Kupcho. What makes it even more compelling is that Grant’s season hadn’t been smooth at all; she missed eight cuts this year. That kind of storyline naturally pulls more people in, and a lot of that momentum can probably be traced back to Craig Kessler.

When so many different players win, every tournament becomes a genuine mystery. The media narratives multiply. “A lot of reasons to be part of LPGA…We’ll see what happens next year, but this year I think it’s been a little different than we thought early in the season,” Sorenstam concluded.