Kai Trump faced a brutal learning curve at the Junior Invitational, where she was outclassed by elite competition and finished in last place at Sage Valley in South Carolina
Donald Trump said Kai gets her golf skills from him(Image: Michele Eve Sandberg/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Donald Trump joked that his granddaughter, Kai, got her golf skills from him before she shot 52-over-par in a prestigious junior golf tournament.
President Trump has not been shy in bigging up the 17-year-old’s talents on the golf course, and in an exchange caught on camera during a round in December, the 78-year-old said: “That’s where Kai gets it [from],” after finding the center of the fairway with a sweetly-struck drive.
Kai is a talented amateur, committing to the University of Miami to play collegiate golf when she leaves high school. But the teenager was outclassed after being invited to play in the Junior Invitational earlier this month.
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The tournament is hosted at Sage Valley in South Carolina, with the top junior amateurs from across the world invited to compete. Scottie Scheffler, Akshay Bhatia and Joaquin Niemann are among former winners of the tournament’s boy’s division.
Kai’s invitation to play in the tournament gave her the opportunity to play on the biggest stage in her fledgling career, but she proved to be a class below the elite competition in the 24-strong field.
After opening up with a 17-over-par round of 89, she showed courage to improve her scores over the following two days. But she concluded with another 17-over-par round to finish in dead last at 52-under-par, 59 shots adrift of runaway winner Aphrodite Deng, who won the event by six shots.
Kai finished in last place at Sage Valley(Image: Megan Briggs/TGL, TGL Golf via Getty Images)
Despite struggling in the biggest test of her young career so far and finishing 22 shots worse off than any other player, Kai rose by more than 200 places in the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) girl’s rankings. After taking part at Sage Valley, Kai jumped 285 places in the rankings to 530th in the country.
In announcing her commitment to Miami last year, Kai paid tribute to President Trump’s influence on her love of golf. She wrote on Instagram: “I am beyond excited to announce my verbal commitment to the University of Miami. I would like to thank my mom, Vanessa, and my dad, Don, for always supporting me through my journey. I would also like to thank my great team for getting me to this point. I would like to thank my Grandpa for giving me access to great courses and tremendous support.”
In the boys division, Tiger Woods’ 16-year-old son Charlie was the biggest name in the field. He finished in a respectable 25th place out of 36 players after going 11-over-par for the week. Young phenom Miles Russell, who has already made his PGA Tour debut, won the event by two shots at nine-under-par.
Coincidentally, Charlie and Kai’s parents – Tiger and Vanessa Trump – announced this week they were dating. Tiger said in a statement: “Love is in the air and life is better with you by my side! We look forward to our journey through life together. At this time, we would appreciate privacy for all those close to our hearts.”
