Paige Spiranac explains emotional toll of golf rules dispute, describing intense backlash & death threats
Golf influencer Paige Spiranac has spoken out after receiving significant backlash for a rules violation during Barstool Sports’ “Internet Invitational,” a golf tournament featuring online creators and social media personalities.Spiranac faced intense criticism after footage showed her pressing down long grass in front of teammate Malosi Togisala’s ball — an action flagged by other competitors during the event.
Following the controversy, Spiranac temporarily stepped away from social media. On Tuesday, she returned with several Instagram stories addressing the situation and the overwhelming reaction she says she has endured. She revealed that she received “tens of thousands of death threats,” describing the past week and a half as the harshest public reaction she has encountered in her ten years of content creation.
Spiranac said the volume of hostile messages, including calls for her to harm herself, led to discussions about whether she needed a restraining order. She emphasized that the break from social media was necessary for her mental health, explaining that she struggles with a desire to be well-liked and found the wave of negativity extremely difficult to process.
During the tournament, she became visibly emotional after being confronted by opponents about the rules infraction. Spiranac stated she was unaware that tamping down grass in front of a ball was prohibited and insisted she would never intentionally cheat, noting the presence of multiple cameras on the course.
She called the mistake “painfully embarrassing” and said she had learned the rule since the incident. Ultimately, Spiranac’s team lost the match on the 18th hole, following a separate rules dispute involving Togisala. The tournament, filmed earlier in the summer, was released in a six-episode series in October.
Spiranac closed her comments by thanking supporters who checked in on her, acknowledging that the situation had been “an interesting week and a half” but expressing appreciation for those offering encouragement.
