‘My Character Was Often Questioned’: Paige Spiranac Admits Why Her Golf Career Became a Love-Hate Battle

The golf diva we see today hasn’t had the greatest of journeys when switching fields. Paige Spiranac, today is the biggest golf influencer with 4 million followers on Instagram and over a million on X. Along with that, she has two different channels where she keeps the community engaged.

However, the journey, whether for the game or fans to pursue on social media, has been filled with ups and downs. She bid adieu to being a professional golfer when she couldn’t handle the pressure to succeed. It was never physical for her, the roadblocks were always mental. In November 2024, the fans requested her to share more golf content, for which she shared her story of love and hate for the game.

She wrote, “It’s funny because this is the first year in a while where I actually practiced hard, played some really cool courses, and fell back in love with the game❤️ I played more this year than I have in a long time and honestly playing better than ever. I’ve always loved golf but it’s been a love/hate relationship which I’m sure we can all relate to at times lol.” Spiranac played in Creator Classic, finishing 2 over, and even became part of the PGA Tour’s Creator Council. She further promised to post more about golf.

Now, in 2025, she has opened up about the past incidents she dealt with at the start of her career. Recently at the 5 Clubs podcast, she joined in as a guest where she was asked about resentment in her career and how she dealt with it. To this, she said, “Yes, so when I first started doing this I was met with a lot of resentment and hate.” Hate, maybe for the way she dresses, because it was unconventional, or because she is never shy from expressing her opinion.

Spiranac further explained how it was different early on and grabbed negative attention. She even fought for years to prove who she was on and off the course. For this, she stated, “To prove who I am as a player but also who I am as a person because my character was often questioned because of what I loved to wear.” Despite the hate she got, Spiranac is thankful. “That is why I’ve had such a long-lasting career in media which doesn’t happen too often,” she said.

Always accused of wanting attention with her dress style, Spiranac “was forced” to wear her mom’s golf clothes because there weren’t any other options for her. “As a 13-year-old I never felt comfortable in what I was wearing, which made me feel very self-conscious and unconfident. Whenever I would try to wear a skirt, or what I thought was a cute top, I’d often get yelled at and told to change by people at the course. As a young girl these experiences almost made me want to quit, not just because I couldn’t wear cute clothes, but because of how I was treated and humiliated by all these guys when I was just 13,” she once shared on Facebook.

It honestly wasn’t easy. But it was her parents who helped her. Now, she aims to do the same, help everyone feel good, in their skin. “Never want anyone else to feel the way I did or be treated the way I was treated. I believe to grow the game, you need to allow people to express themselves on the course – not only young people who are just figuring out who they are, but anyone, at any age – because no one wants or deserves to be shamed for what they like to wear or how they look in their clothes,” she wrote 7 years ago.

While concluding, she mentioned how difficult it was to settle on having people on your side and hating. Even as a people-pleaser, it became even more difficult. Now that Paige has become carefree about her hatred of social media. There is another LPGA professional who recently made clear for the same.

Charley Hull’s replies to haters

On social media, love and hate are part and parcel of the game. But it is important to deal with it. Spiranac has done that with her long experience in the field. Even Charley Hull has been doing that in the past. Earlier, Hull was hated for her statements of not liking golf training.

She said, “I don’t train for golf. I have zero interest in training for golf. I think golf training is a load of rubbish.” The statements were totally opposite to the other golfers, who emphasized training regularly. However, fans were the first ones to criticize her. Well, she had a clear answer to that.

A few days after the outrage began, Hull posted an Instagram story writing, “I don’t live life to please people I live me life to please myself.” Even in the background, it has an image that shares a quote, “If everybody likes you, you have a serious problem.” With a simple story, the British golfer made clear what she thinks.

Even though hate is a common issue. How do you deal with the hate on social media? Is it similar to what the LPGA star does? Share with us in the comments below.