Paige Spiranac Made Generous Donation After Internet Invitational

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Paige Spiranac participates in the Berenberg Invitational in New York.

Another week, another new aspect surrounding Barstool’s Internet Invitational comes to light. The highly talked about tournament has been making headlines since its filming. The tournament, shot weeks ahead of its release, has continued to gain attention since its debut. Although Paige Spiranac is no stranger to the spotlight, this time, the attention comes for a more heartfelt reason.

Following backlash and controversy over cheating allegations at the tournament, Paige Spiranac went silent on social media. During her time away from the spotlight, the golf influencer chose to quietly donate all her winnings from the Internet Invitational. She donated the five figure amount to the family of the late Cody “Beef” Franke. Franke took part in the Internet Invitational ahead of his passing, and left the golf world in mourning at the news of his death.

Spiranac’s Winnings

The decision to donate her winnings was revealed during an episode of Son of a Boy Dad podcast. The information was shared by Francis Ellis, who also competed at the Internet Invitational.

“I found out through a little birdie that when we all got paid our skins money from the second day, which was $15,000 or $16,000 each, Paige Spiranac donated all of her skins money to Beef’s family.”

Despite the generosity on Spiranac’s part, co-host Adam “Rone” Ferrone wasn’t convinced that Spiranac’s motives were pure, stating,

“No better way to quell a dirty conscious.”

Fortunately, Ellis came to Spiranac’s defense, and cleared the air, stating, “She didn’t ask anyone to tell, she didn’t do that, she didn’t expect that to come out.”

“You had to tell the Barstool payroll person how to give their money and she just told that person, ‘Send it to Beef’s family.’”

He continued, “I’m impressed that she did that. Especially impressed that it would never have gotten out and if I had not found out and told it on her behalf.”

Eventually, Ferrone agreed with Ellis, calling the hate Spiranac received “clownish”.

Cheating Backlash

During the competition, Spiranac was caught on camera adjusting the fescue ahead of her teammates shot. In professional golf, this is a violation. When asked about it later, Spiranac broke down in tears, denying any ill-intent.

Fortunately, at the end of the day, the mistake wasn’t make-or-break. Brad Dalke, Cody “Beef” Franke, and Francis Ellis won the $1 million that was up for grabs.

Whether the cheating was intentional or not, Spiranac subsequently went silent on social media. Likely due to the intense and horrible backlash she received online. When she returned to posting, she updated followers via an Instagram story, writing,

“The last week and a half is probably the worst hate I’ve ever received in the 10 years of me doing this. “I’m talking tens of thousands of death threats, people telling me to kill myself. The most vile, horrendous stuff you could ever say to an individual that’s been in my DMs to the point where we were discussing me having to potentially get a restraining order. I mean, it’s serious stuff. It’s not easy, and it hasn’t been easy.”

Sydney Jones Sydney Jones is a sports writer covering all things Golf, Mariners, and Seahawks for Heavy.com. She has experience covering the intersection of sports and human interest stories for multiple publications. Originally from Montana, she recently relocated to Seattle and is enjoying the new experience of being surrounding by live professional sports and rooting for a common team while writing about them. More about Sydney Jones

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