Golf influencer Paige Spiranac has built one of the largest followings in the sport with 3.7 million followers on Instagram, 1.5 million on TikTok and another 879,000 on Twitter.
Spiranac has used her sex appeal along with her passion for the game to move the needle for herself and other brands and businesses she works with – all while receiving some hateful comments from the deepest bowels of the internet.
In a lengthy profile in Golf Digest, Spiranac talked about how her career was kickstarted and the judgment she receives constantly from others. She recalled an instance when she was sitting on a plane and saw another woman leave hateful comments on a handful of social media posts and when she was finished, went to making Valentine’s Day cards for her grandchildren.
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Spiranac told the magazine the woman who made the comments did not think about it too much and put it all into perspective. She said the negative reactions she gets about the way she has built her brand fails to consider people like Jessica Alba and Tyra Banks, who have gone about their businesses similarly.
“What I produce is not that provocative. If my body makes someone uncomfortable, that’s not my problem. I’m not doing anything illegal. I’m not causing harm,” Spiranac told Golf Digest.
“Maybe it is because I come off as every guy’s fantasy—a girl that loves golf and wears a bikini—but I see myself as a girl’s girl. I’m coming from an authentic place.”
Spiranac was a standout golfer at San Diego State, was an All-Mountain West Conference first team selection and was a top-20 finisher at the NCAA Central Regional Championships.
As her fame grew after college, she accepted an invitation to an event on the Ladies European Tour in Dubai in 2015.
“From the start, it was a massive controversy I was there,” Spiranac said. “There were pros, legends of the game, discussing if I belonged. People were taking bets about whether I would come in last. I’m this kid who has no experience, no media training. I completely bombed, publicly cried about it. It was a s— show.”
Spiranac had previously opened up about her desire to play professionally in a March episode of her “Playing A Round” podcast.
“If I had the choice to be doing what I’m doing to play on the LPGA Tour, I would probably pick the LPGA Tour because that was just a goal that I’ve always wanted to achieve and it was a dream of mine — and I wish I could’ve checked that off before I went over into doing media work full time,” Spiranac said at the time. “But that’s not how life works.”
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