President Trump’s granddaughter received some sage advice from her mom’s golf icon boyfriend ahead of her professional debut.
Kai Trump says she got advice from both her grandfather and Tiger Woods, who is dating her mother, Vanessa Trump, ahead of her first professional golf tournament on Thursday afternoon.
“He told me to go out there and have fun and just go with the flow,” the teen told reporters on Wednesday. “Whatever happens, happens.”
Trump, 18, says Woods advised her to just “have fun” during her first professional tournament. The pair previously attended the Genesis Invitational tournament in California in February. Michael Owens/Getty Images
The eldest Trump grandchild, 18, also said she got similar advice from the president: “Go out there and have fun. Just don’t get nervous.”
Kai is participating as one of three amateur players in Thursday’s Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) tournament in Bellair, Florida, her first professional event.
The golfer received a sponsor’s exemption from the tournament’s host, a common way for both promising athletes and celebrities to participate without meeting the typical qualifications for competitors.
The aspiring golfer is the eldest of Donald Trump Jr.’s five children with his former wife, Vanessa Trump. The pair were married from 2005 to 2018.
Woods, 49, confirmed his relationship with Vanessa, 47, in March. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Kai Trump said the four-time PGA Tour champion is “the best golfer in the entire world… and [an] even better person.”
Trump Jr., meanwhile, is currently in a relationship with socialite Bettina Anderson, 38. Sources close to Anderson recently told the Daily Mail that she “settled” for the Trump scion after initially setting her sights on Elon Musk.
Though Woods didn’t confirm his relationship with Vanessa Trump until March, the pair have reportedly been together since before Thanksgiving 2024. In February, President Trump awarded the golfer the Medal of Freedom. JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images
Kai Trump is listed as having a handicap of zero, a rare feat that would place her in the top 1 percent of women golfers in the United States if true. However, her current rank in the American Junior Golf Association’s Girls category is 461.
The University of Miami, where Trump has committed to play college women’s golf, ranks 68th among Division I schools in the sport.
The president himself sparked debate among golf experts earlier this year for claiming to have won several golf tournaments with a handicap of 2.8, despite video evidence of his strokes being illegally aided by caddies.
Robert Macgregor, a U.S.-based professional golf coach at TeachMe.To, told the Daily Beast in August that Trump’s swing “is not likely a technique that would accomplish 18 club championships or a 2.8 handicap.”
While the LPGA will be Kai Trump’s professional golf debut, she’s played in prestigious tournaments before. In March 2024, Trump, then 16, participated in the Junior Invitational tournament at Sage Valley, considered one of the most prestigious youth tournaments in the country. She finished in last place, scoring 52-over par, 22 strokes behind her closest competitor, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Trump has participated in three amateur tournaments this year, but failed to place in the top 20 in any of them, the Associated Press reports. At the 2025 Junior Invitational at Sage Valley, she placed 24th.
President Trump has been heavily featured in his granddaughter’s golf-centric social media content, even joining her at the Ryder Cup in September. Mandel Ngan-Pool/Getty Images
However, Justin Sheehan, the COO of Pelican Golf Clubs, which hosts the LPGA tournament, told the Wall Street Journal that he recently played a round with the president’s granddaughter and was “impressed by her game.”
Sheehan also said that Trump’s social media presence played a major factor in her invitation to the tournament. “With Kai, having her social media presence can only enhance women’s golf and get people talking about this event,” Sheehan told WSJ. “At the end of the day, for women’s golf to grow, we need to get more eyeballs on it.”
