Has Paige Spiranac ever played in LPGA?
US golfer Paige Spiranac is one of the most prominent personalities in golf. After retiring from the sport, she's now a sports media entity. With a whopping 3.6 million dedicated Instagram followers, she has left behind golfing greats such as Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy well behind in the social media fanbase category.
While many are well-aware of her social media presence and content creation, what did her professional golf career look like? Did she play at the LPGA? Spiranac has played on the Ladies' European Tour, but when it came to the LPGA, she couldn't earn a card.
LIV players-We want to play less golf
Also LIV players-We are suing so we can play more golf
She has competed in a couple of LET events, with her first appearance being at the Omega Dubai Ladies Classic in 2015. Unfortunately, she couldn't break through and missed the cut that week.
She competed in the Cactus Tour and won her first event in June 2016, beating the then World No. 1 Hannah O'Sullivan in a playoff. In July 2016, Spiranac particpated in her second European Tour Event where she made the cut and finished 58th. After that, she returned to the US to take part in the qualifying event for the LPGA.
In August 2016, she competed in her first LPGA Qualifying tournament but was unable to to book a spot in the professional circuit. In December that year, she again competed in Dubai but missed the cut. It proved to be her last professional golf tournament, as after trying for a while, the young player retired from the sport that month.
In 2022, she took a jibe at her career while discussing Marshall Football's upset of Notre Dame. She joked:
"Notre Dame is as bad as I was playing professional golf,"
Notre Dame is as bad as I was playing professional golf
Spiranac, who is active on many social media platforms such as YouTube and Twitter, also has her own podcast, 'Playing a Round with Paige Renee'. She has often been in the headlines for opining on the happenings in golf.
Why did Paige Spiranac quit golf?
Paige Spiranac has never shied away from conveying her feelings on the ongoings in the golfing world.
Be it criticising the changes in the PGA Tour amid its public war with LIV Golf or proposing a gender-equal golfing event, she has shown her knowledge and sensibility of the sport.
LIV and PGA tour doing everything they can to “evolve the game” and change it for the better. Give me a mixed team event and then I’ll be excited
So, it is but natural for one to wonder why the successful collegiate player left golf. She was only 23 when she retired, a very young age for a golfer to retire, as golf is comparitively a less strenuous sport, and golfers generally have longer shelf lives than other athletes.
According to Paige Spiranac, the pressure of playing in a professional tournament was too much for her. It was not the lack of skill or talent, but she found that performing when it mattered was too stressful for her.
"For me, it was never physical ability. It was always mental."
Golf is my therapy and also the reason I need therapy https://t.co/4MkoEJO8Mx
Spiranac believes now that she plays golf only for fun, her game has also improved.
"I think it has gone better now that I just play it for fun. ... That’s why my game is even better than when I was playing pro."
They say whatever happens, happens for good. Now, Paige Spiranac has a successful career as a social media influencer with an impressive following. She has found her niche and has been entertaining everyone with her content creation.