Kai Trump, granddaughter of Donald Trump, has made her official debut on the LPGA Tour.
The 18-year-old amateur golfer, as anticipated, didn’t make the cut after scoring a total of 18-over in two rounds, ending up at the bottom of the leaderboard at The Annika tournament in Florida. She secured her spot in the competition through a sponsor’s exemption.
Trump scored 13-over during the first round and improved in the second round with a score of five-over. Her performance drew comments from one of her golf coaches at the University of Miami.
“She’ll never play a more pressure-filled round in her career,” Jim Garren told the Daily Mail. “Not only her first start but her first pro start and a big-time event. And she’s coming from junior golf straight to that.”
“She hasn’t even reached our level yet,” Garren added, referring to college golf. “So it’ll never get harder for her career.”
After observing her play over two days, it was noticeable that on Thursday, she was almost silent on the first tee, not approaching either of her playing partners, Hinako Shibuno and Olivia Cowan, to introduce herself. Eventually, she did, but her nerves were clearly visible.
However, there was a silver lining – Trump’s performance off the tee was impressive. In fact, she could hit it just as far as some of the professionals.
“It was pretty cool because I know I hit it far, but kind of playing with the best players in the world and being literally right there or even outdriving on some of the holes, it felt pretty good,” said Trump after the first round, as she assessed her performance on the fairways.
Trump described her emotions on the first tee, noting that her nerves were running high as spectators surrounded the area with their phones recording and cheering after each stroke. The gallery trailed Trump for nearly the entire round wearing MAGA hats and American memorabilia, including the standard bearer who also sported a Trump hat.
“So the first tee I was a little bit more nervous than the RNC. I thought I went in the bunker but I hit way past the bunker. Honestly, the adrenaline the whole time, I was hitting it way farther than I normally do, especially around some of the par-3s.
“Compared to the RNC, I would say the first two shots were more nerve-wracking than the RNC.”
During the opening round, her tee shot on the par-3 12th bounced over the green into a tunnel in the grandstand. She was granted relief and came up short on the chip, before two-putting from the fringe for bogey.
Across both rounds, she recorded three double bogeys, 13 bogeys, and four eagles that all came during the second round. Despite not delivering an exceptional performance, she conducted herself with poise and grace throughout.
She maintained her composure even when struggling, particularly after recording four consecutive bogeys during the opening round. This calm, mature demeanor will serve her well in future competitions.
“I mean, things are going to happen. Once it happens you can’t go back in time and fix it. The best thing I could do is move on,” she said.
“Like I told my caddie, Allan, kind of just started laughing. It is what it is. We got that out of the way, so let’s just move on. It was pretty easy to move on after that.”
Following the conclusion of Trump’s second round, she began distributing hugs and expressing gratitude, with her mom, Vanessa Trump, among the final recipients of her daughter’s embrace. “Where’s my hug?” her mother asked playfully after her debut concluded.
