Paige Spiranac is one of the most popular golfers on the planet, and she has played just one tour event in her life.
Spiranac has had quite the journey to where she is today, which is the peak of a social influencing mountain. On the journey, she has gained four million Instagram followers, one million X followers and over 1.5 million followers on TikTok.
She has more people looking at her posts on Instagram than Tiger Woods and Bryson DeChambeau, two of the biggest crowd drawers in the professional game.
At a young age, gymnastics was the path Spiranac looked to. She was an excellent gymnast and her parents moved the family from Denver to Colorado Springs so she could train fully, as per a wide-ranging Golf Digest interview from 2023.
“Gymnastics was my full identity. Everyone knew me as ‘Paige the gymnast who was going to the Olympics,” she said.
Two fractures ruined her dream of reaching the Olympics but at the age of 13, Spiranac discovered the golf bug. Her family moved to Arizona so she could play during every season. She got a golf scholarship at the University of Arizona and then transferred to San Diego State where she became the team captain.
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Paige Spiranac photos fiasco led to new path
Her life took a huge turn in 2015 when a blogger called Dan Regester shared photos of Spiranac while placing emphasis on her physical appearance, and she began to receive messages and build a vast followership on social media. She was 22 at this time.
“In that moment, my life completely switched,” she said.
When speaking to Golf Digest, her mother Annette said both she and Spiranac “lived in leotards”, which meant she became victim to the taboo of golf’s dress code. She endeavoured on her professional golf journey but missed the cut at a Ladies European Tour event in Dubai and received criticism from fans and players alike who questioned if she “belonged.”
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This was off the back of coming under a large microscope in the first place, just off the post of a random blogger.
“They said it was because I was playing golf in these quote, unquote, ‘provocative outfits,’”.
It wasn’t long after that Spiranac began to use her appearance to her advantage. In March 2021, Spiranac posted an image on social media of her wearing a Masters Green Jacket with nothing underneath. As she continues to promote golf and keeps it at the centre of her video content, it’s content like that infamous Masters pic leaving little to the imagination, that has led to her vast influencing empire.
She’s had many brand partnerships along the way such as Shot Scope, Club Champion, Swag, X-Golf and LA Golf. She has an estimated net worth of $3 million, marking the success she has found since entering the golf world and the influencing game.
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