When is being the 70th-ranked junior golfer in South Florida enough to earn you a sponsor’s invite to an LPGA Tournament? When your last name is Trump, of course.
The granddaughter of President Donald Trump, Kai Trump, announced on social media that she has received a sponsor’s invitation to compete in The Annika at the Pelican Golf Club in November.
The young Trump does have some bona fides in golf. She is a high school senior and committed to playing collegiately at the University of Miami. However, she was ranked tied for 70th in the 2024 Girls 13-18 Medalist Tour Player of the Year standings. Her last tournament result recorded on the South Florida Junior PGA website is from June of this year, when she shot 86-74 at the 41st Nicklaus Junior Championship to finish T19. In March of this year, she finished dead last at a prestigious youth invitational where she played alongside Charlie Woods, shooting 52 over par through four rounds.
I will be making my LPGA Tour debut in November at The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican! See you November 10-16 – at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, FL. Visit https://t.co/iUuh3w1b47 @theannikalpga @ANNIKA59 @LPGA for more information. pic.twitter.com/mmqVfMFukD
— Kai Trump (@kaitrump) October 28, 2025
Of course, Kai Trump won’t be competing at The Annika because she is ready to compete against Nelly Korda, Lydia Ko, or Charley Hull. She is there because she will bring more attention to a November LPGA tournament than perhaps ever before.
Kai Trump has a massive social media following with 3.5 million followers on TikTok, 2.6 million on Instagram, 1.3 million subscribers on YouTube, and over 900,000 on X. Her video of playing golf with her grandfather and the current POTUS has accrued 3.4 million views. In fact, the LPGA announcement about Trump’s sponsor’s exemption has four paragraphs about her social media following and just one about her actual golfing skills.
With a mission to grow the game of golf to younger and more diverse audiences, Trump has more than 6 million combined followers across social media (TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and X). She also recently founded her own apparel and lifestyle brand aimed at empowering young women in sports.
“My dream has been to compete with the best in the world on the LPGA Tour, and I am thrilled to be able to compete at The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican in November,” said Trump. “This event will be an incredible experience. I look forward meeting and competing against so many of my heroes and mentors in golf as I make my LPGA Tour debut.”
“Kai Trump has a tremendous passion for the game and is expanding the sport to broader audiences,” said Justin Sheehan, Director of Golf and COO, Pelican Golf Club. “She has a bright future at Miami, and we look forward to welcoming her and our entire tournament field to Pelican Golf Club in November.”
“Sponsor invitations are an important way to spotlight emerging talent and bring new attention to our tournaments and the LPGA,” said Ricki Lasky, LPGA Chief Tour Business and Operations Officer. “Kai’s broad following and reach are helping introduce golf to new audiences, especially among younger fans. We’re excited to see her take this next step in her journey, and we’re proud to work closely with our partners in Tampa Bay whose continued commitment to advancing the women’s game helps elevate the LPGA and expand its visibility.”
The idea of using sponsor invitations for golfers with large social media followings is nothing new. Earlier this year, YouTube star Grant Horvat openly debated accepting an invite to a PGA Tour event before ultimately declining due to the use of footage from the event.
Of course, the Trump family has deep ties throughout the golf world. The president and his granddaughter were both prominently positioned on the first tee at the Ryder Cup last month. Trump has golf courses all over the world, has attempted to broker a peace deal with the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, (although that has been a failure to this point), and is close with many of the top superstars in the game. The namesake of this tournament, Annika Sorenstam, even accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Donald Trump in January 2021 after the January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. It’s not hard to connect the dots on how this happened.
Does this sponsor invite for Kai Trump scream nepotism? Absolutely. Given her results to date, Kai Trump is far, far, far from ready to compete in an actual LPGA Tournament and it will likely draw mockery and scorn from all over the sports world.
Will it draw condemnation from people throughout the sports world for taking a spot from someone with far more skill? Undoubtedly. Donald Trump is the most divisive figure in modern American history. And at a time when every institutional norm and firewall is breaking down, the LPGA Tour granting a sponsor’s invitation to his granddaughter is just one more example of society bending the knee above all else.
But will it help the LPGA Tour in notoriety and generate social media buzz? There’s no doubt about it. And the LPGA has decided that the criticism they will face for putting the Trump family first will apparently be worth it.
