Golf influencer Paige Spiranac has built one of the largest followings in the sport with 3.7 million followers on Instagram, 1.5 million on TikTok and another 879,000 on Twitter.
Spiranac has used her sex appeal along with her passion for the game to move the needle for herself and other brands and businesses she works with, all while receiving some hateful comments from the deepest bowels of the internet.
In a lengthy profile in Golf Digest, Spiranac opened up about how his career got started and the judgment he constantly receives from others. She recalled an instance where she was sitting on a plane and saw another woman leave hateful comments on a handful of social media posts and when she was done, she set about making Valentines for her grandchildren. .
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Paige Spirana attends the TAO x Maxim Big Game Party at the Southwest Jet Center on February 11, 2023 in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Marcus Ingram/Getty Images)
Spiranac told the magazine that the woman who made the comments didn’t think too much about it and put it all into perspective. She said the backlash she gets about the way she’s built her brand doesn’t take into account people like Jessica Alba and Tyra Banks, who have gone about their business in a similar way.
«What I produce is not that provocative. If my body makes someone uncomfortable, that’s not my problem. I’m not doing anything illegal. I’m not causing harm,» Spiranac told Golf Digest.
«Maybe it’s because I look like every guy’s fantasy, a girl who loves golf and wears a bikini, but I look like a girls’ girl. I come from a real place.»
PAIGE SPIRANAC SLAMS CRITICS WHO ARE NOW ‘OVERSEXUALIZING’ TO BUILD BRAND AFTER YEARS OF OUTRAGE OVER HER
Paige Spiranac tees off during day three of the Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic at Emirates Golf Club on May 3, 2019 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (Tom Dulat/Getty Images)
Spiranac was a standout golfer at San Diego State, was a first-team All-Mountain West Conference selection and finished in the top 20 at the NCAA Central Regional Championships.
As her fame grew after college, she accepted an invite to a Ladies European Tour event in Dubai in 2015.
«From the beginning, it was a huge controversy that I was there,» Spiranac said. «There were pros, legends of the game, arguing if I belonged. People were placing bets on whether I’d be last. I’m this guy who has no experience, no media background. I totally bombed myself, cried publicly about it. It was a spectacle shitty».
Spiranac had previously spoken about his desire to play professionally on a March episode of his «Playing A Round» podcast.
Paige Spiranac attends the MAXIM Hot 100 Experience in Hyde Beach at SLS South Beach on July 16, 2022 in Miami Beach, Florida. (Aaron Davidson/Getty Images)
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«If I had the option to do what I’m doing to play on the LPGA Tour, I would probably choose the LPGA Tour because that was just a goal that I always wanted to achieve and it was a dream of mine and I wish I would have marked it off before I went on to work on the full-time media,» Spiranac said at the time. «But that’s not how life works.»