Paige Spiranac has clapped back at critics about painful rumors about a 2015 golf appearance.
Paige Spiranac has hit back at critics.(Image: Getty)
Paige Spiranac is setting the record straight on painful rumors that haunted her debut in professional golf nearly a decade ago.
Speaking on the Quiet Please! podcast hosted by Mel Reid and Kira Dixon, the social media influencer and former pro golfer revisited her 2015 appearance at the Dubai Ladies Masters, a tournament that made her professional debut.
“It was the worst moment of my life,” The 32-year-old said during the March 19 episode. “I ended up going viral, and this was back when people weren’t going viral all the time. I didn’t know how to handle it, and my whole life got flipped upside down. I went from having 500 followers to 100,000 followers.”
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Spiranac said her rapid rise to fame came with criticism and rumors that she had traded sexual favors for her invitation to the event. She recalled the harsh atmosphere she encountered among fellow competitors.
Paige Spiranac previously refused to be silenced by ‘stuffy’ golf critics over ‘risque’ outfits.(Image: Getty Images)
“I show up and was doing hours of press, which I wasn’t prepared for. I had no training to do this,” she said. “And I would say there were a couple of girls who were really supportive and who were nice, but the majority [of them], it was brutal. I would go on the range and girls would just scatter. No one wanted to hit next to me.”
“There were constant comments like ‘I did sexual favors to get this invite,’ and I was listening to it, and they would say [it] within earshot of me. It was tough,” she added.
The pressure and isolation, she said, likely contributed to her poor performance.
“It was my first pro event, it was really difficult. I just wanted to be liked and I played so bad. It was horrendous,” she admitted.
“You work your a– off, week in and week out, and here comes me and I just walk on in,” she said.
This isn’t the first time she has spoken publicly about the emotional toll of that tournament. In a 2018 interview with Sports Illustrated, Spiranac revealed she broke down before her tee time.
“I was sitting in the bathroom just bawling and was like ‘I don’t want to go through this pain… being alone. Scared,’” she said at the time. “I never wanted anyone to feel the way I felt in that moment… I was bullied so bad to the point that I didn’t want to live anymore.”
Today, Spiranac serves as an ambassador for The Cybersmile Foundation, an organization focused on combating cyberbullying and supporting victims of online abuse.
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