Paige Spiranac took a lot of heat for her performance during The Internet Invitational last month.
The golf event, hosted by Barstool Sports and Bob Does Sports, featured some of the top golf creators in the country, playing for a $1 million prize. Spiranac’s team made it to the final round, ultimately losing. However, during the final round, Spiranac was accused of cheating – she was caught stomping around her team’s ball in high grass, which isn’t allowed – but she denied doing anything nefarious on purpose.
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Spiranac, who has more than four million followers on Instagram, received 1,000s of death threats in the wake of her cheating scandal.
“I would never intentionally cheat, in all of my years playing golf I have never been accused of cheating,” she said.
Paige Spiranac announced a generous donation.© Jeff Lange / USA TODAY NETWORK
(© Jeff Lange / USA TODAY NETWORK)
One of Spiranac’s teammates, Frankie Borelli, also defended her.
“I totally don’t think that she was trying to do anything specifically to help us win. There’s so many cameras out there. She’s been at this for so long,” he said on Barstool’s “Fore Play” podcast.
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“If you think that something that she had done crosses some sort of rule infraction, then like, I don’t know, people are allowed to have their own opinion. Do I think that she was trying to improve the lie? No. I also think that the footage probably doesn’t look the best.”
Meanwhile, Spiranac announced a generous charity donation.
Spiranac donates to Barstool Beef’s family
Cody “Beef” Franke, a member of the “Fore Play” podcast, was on the winning team in The Internet Invitational. Tragically, he died the morning before the first episode was put out, suffering a medical emergency.
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Spiranac has chosen to donate her winnings from The Internet Invitational to Franke’s family. She had received about $15,000 for her skins winnings during the tournament.
“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,’” Barstool’s Francis Ellis, who was on Franke’s winning team, said on the “Son of a Boy Dad” podcast.
“That’s a significant amount of money, and I’m impressed that she did that” Ellis continued. “Especially impressed that it would never have gotten out and if I had not found out and told it on her behalf.”
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Well done, Paige.
This story was originally published by The Spun on Dec 3, 2025, where it first appeared in the Golf section. Add The Spun as a Preferred Source by clicking here.