Paige Spiranac addresses 'sexual favours' rumour that turned her life 'upside down'
'I just wanted to be liked and I played so bad. It was horrendous.'
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Paige Spiranac has never been afraid to embrace her sexuality and often has encouraged other female athletes to do so.
But early in her career, the incredibly popular golf influencer had to deal with nasty rumours about using sexual favours to get ahead.
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Paige Spiranac addresses 'sexual favours' rumour that turned her life 'upside down' Back to video
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During an appearance on the Quiet Please! podcast, Spiranac spoke about her time at the Dubai Ladies Masters in 2015, which took place shortlly after she had graduated from San Diego State and turned pro.
Spiranac, who missed the cut at the tournament after shooting 77 and 79, said that it “was like the worst moment of (her) life,” and it brings back “brutal” memories.
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The blonde bombshell was a rising star on social media at the time, but her reach wasn’t nearly what it is today.
Many believed that her sponsors invitation to the prestigious event was well above her level of play and gossip began to emerge from her competitors that she “did sexual favors to get this invite.”
Spiranac told podcast co-hosts Mel Reid — herself a pro on the Ladies European Tour — and golf personality Kira Dixon that she didn’t know at the time how to handle the added attention that the rumours brought upon her.
“I ended up going viral and this was back when people weren’t going viral all the time — and I didn’t know how to handle it and my whole life got flipped upside down,” Spiranac said. “I went from having 500 followers to 100,000 followers.
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“I got this invite to play an LET (Ladies European Tournament). I had just turned pro, I had never played golf outside the country. And everyone was like, ‘It’s low key, don’t worry about it. No one is going to know if you play well or not.’
“I show up and was doing hours of press, which I wasn’t prepared for. I had no training to do this. And I would say there were a couple of girls who were really supportive and who were nice, but the majority, it was brutal. I would go on the range and girls would just scatter. No one wanted to hit next to me.
“There were constant comments like ‘I did sexual favours to get this invite,’ and I was listening to it … they would say (it) within earshot of me.
“It was tough. Not knowing what I was doing, it was my first pro event, it was really difficult. I just wanted to be liked and I played so bad. It was horrendous.”
One top of the controversy, Spiranac also recalled being “badly’ criticized for her play, but also understood why her invite had “ruffled some feathers.”
“You work your ass off, week in and week out … and here comes me and I just walk on in,” she said. “I got the new Callaway bag and I had Lululemon that week. I can see why it ruffled some feathers.”
While she no longer aspires to make it big on a pro tour, the 32-year-old is doing quite well in the influencer game, boasting more than 5 million followers across her social media accounts while also scoring a role in the coming sequel to cult-classic golf movie Happy Gilmore.
Spiranac makes a cameo in the film — set to be released on Netflix on July 25 — and is even highlighted in the trailer.
Towards the end of the clip, which was released on Tuesday, Sandler’s titular character tries his hand at a virtual golf game.
When Sandler’s character breaks the screen was one his patented rocket-like drives, leaving the crowd gathered around in shock, the blonde bombshell can be seen looking on in disbelief while seemingly playing a staffer for the venue.
Her character and fans in attendance then burst into laughter before cheering on Gilmore.
While it looks to be far from a starring role, Spiranac was nonetheless thrilled to have made an appearance in the movie and the trailer.
“The fact that I’m in the Happy Gilmore 2 movie is actually insane!” she posted on X while sharing the clip.
Spiranac had campaigned for a spot in the long-awaited movie when talks began that it was in development last year.
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