Golf star Paige Spiranac revealed she received ‘tens of thousands of death threats’ after being accused of cheating in a golf tournament, and reiterated that she didn’t intend to break any rules
Paige Spiranac was accused of cheating(Image: _paige.renee/Instagram)
Golf star Paige Spiranac has revealed she received “tens of thousands of death threats” after cheating accusations – describing it as “the worst hate I’ve ever received in ten years of doing this”.
Paige was accused of cheating at the $1m Barstool Sports-sponsored golf tournament at at Big Cedar Lodge, Missouri. She appeared to press down on long grass in what some golf fans interpreted as an attempt to improve the lie for her playing partner Malosi Togisala.
When it was pointed out to her, the 32-year-old dubbed by many as ‘the world’s sexiest woman’ launched an impassioned defence of her actions, protesting: “I didn’t realise that you couldn’t do that… I wasn’t trying to cheat. I would never do that.”
Paige received ‘vile’ death threats
That was 11 days ago, and Paige has kept a low profile on social media since then. But now she has broken her silence, opening up on the traumatic trolling she has been subjected to in a series of Instagram posts.
“The last week and a half is probably the worst hate I’ve ever received in the ten years of me doing this,” she said. “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.”
She took a break from social media
She said he had taken a screen break from social media to preserve her mental health, adding: “I know people are wondering why I haven’t posted or why I haven’t talked about it, I just needed to remove myself for my mental health.
“One thing that I really struggle with is wanting to be liked and accepted, and I don’t want anyone to ever dislike me, and I always try to do everything I can to have people like me, and so, it’s just hard for me as a person with how I process things and then obviously the situation has not been easy either, but luckily, having a good support system, family around and just trying to stay distracted.
“It’s been an interesting week and a half, but I just want to thank everyone for reaching out, asking me how I’m doing, all the support, really means so much to me.”
Paige was confronted at the tournament
After being confronted by opponents during the tournament, Paige had said in an Instagram story: “I am painfully, painfully embarrassed that I did not know this rule… I would never intentionally cheat. In all my years of playing golf, I have never been accused of cheating.
“There were so many cameras on me, to blatantly cheat with that many people around, that many cameras around would be insane. “
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