Here’s what I noticed during Kai Trump’s LPGA debut through a sponsors exemption, and amid her scorecard, her Miami coach has made his feelings clear on her play
14:06 ET, 17 Nov 2025Updated 14:06 ET, 17 Nov 2025
Kai Trump made her LPGA Tour debut, finishing dead last with a cardtotal of 18-over
Kai Trump has officially made her LPGA Tour bow.
The 18-year-old amateur, as expected, missed the cut while carding a total of 18-over through two rounds, finishing dead last at The Annika. Trump, of course, is the granddaughter of Donald Trump, and made her way into the Florida tournament through a sponsor’s exemption.
Trump carded 13-over during the first round before returning a much better second round of five-over. She’s already had the feedback 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.”
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“She hasn’t even reached our level yet,” Garren said, referring to college golf. “So it’ll never get harder for her career.”
After watching her both days, I noticed on the Thursday she was almost silent on the first tee, not walking up to either of her playing partners, Hinako Shibuno and Olivia Cowan, to introduce herself. She did eventually, but the nerves were evident.
But if there was an immediate positive to follow it was Trump’s performance off the tee. 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 saw the mix of the fairways.
Kai Trump will make her way to University of Miami for golf next year
Trump stated how she was feeling on the first tee, mentioning that her nerves were high as the surrounding area was filled with people with their phones out and cheering after the stroke. The crowd followed Trump nearly the entire round with MAGA hats and American memorabilia, including the standard bearer who also wore 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.”
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During the first round, her tee shot on the par-3, 12, bounced over the green into a tunnel in the grandstand. She received relief and shorted the chip, before two-putting from the fringe for bogey.
During both rounds, she carded three double bogeys, 13 bogeys, and four eagles that all occurred during the second round.
Even though Trump didn’t perform incredibly, she carried herself very well with manners. She didn’t appear to get upset when she wasn’t performing well, most notably after she had four bogeys in a row during the first round.
Trump could out-drive some professionals and was able to keep up besides some slow play
This assured, mature sign will bode her well going forward.
“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.”
At the end of Trump’s second round, she started handing out hugs and thank-you’s as her mom, Vanessa Trump, was one of the last people to receive one from her daughter. “Where’s my hug?” asked her mother jokingly after her debut ended.
