Allan Kournikova, Kai Trump’s caddie, believes the teenage golfer has a bright future ahead of her despite her LPGA debut nightmare.
This weekend saw Trump, an 18-year-old amateur who is the granddaughter of US President Donald Trump, make her LPGA debut at the Annika tournament in Florida. Supported by her mother, Vanessa Trump, who is currently dating Tiger Woods, the teenager struggled.
On debut, she missed the cut, after carding scores of 83 and 75, finishing last out of the 108-player field competing come the end of the second round.
Given her inexperience, Trump’s struggles on debut hardly came as a surprise. However, despite that, her caddie, Kournikova, who is the brother of tennis great Anna Kournikova, outlined his belief that Trump has a bright future ahead of her, which will be realized once she takes up golf as a full-time profession.
“I’m really excited to see what’s ahead, because if she wants to pursue her career in this game, she can play at the highest level in my opinion,” Kournikova told the Mail.
He continued: “As far as talent goes, she’s got as much talent as anyone.
“I think it’s raw talent as of now. I told her when we were walking off the green, I said, ‘Can you imagine if you did this every week, just how comfortable you’d be?’
“I mean, these girls come here, it’s like a 9-to-5 for them. They’re clocking in, they show up, they play, they leave. 20 weeks a year they’re doing this. This is our first time.”
Trump admitted following her performance that she was “really nervous”, adding she felt like those nerves impacted her heavily.
“For the first day I was definitely really nervous. I think the nerves just got to me,” she said.
“When I went out there today I felt very calm and peaceful to be honest with you. That’s why I played better.”
