The fallout from the Internet Invitational hit Paige Spiranac particularly hard.
Breaking her silence Tuesday in a series of Instagram Stories, the longtime golf influencer — who was at the center of a cheating controversy at the buzzy event that aired over the past month — said she has received “tens of thousands of death threats” in the aftermath.
“The last week and a half is probably the worst hate I’ve ever received in the ten years of me doing this,” Spiranac said. “I’m talking tens of thousands of death threats, people telling me to kill myself, the most vile, horrendous stuff you could ever say to an individual, that’s been in my DMs to the point where we were discussing me having to potentially get a restraining order. I mean, it’s serious stuff. It’s not easy, and it hasn’t been easy.”
Spiranac, 32, had taken a break from social media, where she boasts more than five million followers between Instagram and X combined, to preserve her mental health.
“I know people are wondering why I haven’t posted or why I haven’t talked about it, I just needed to remove myself for my mental health,” she said.
“One thing that I really struggle with is wanting to be liked and accepted, and I don’t want anyone to ever dislike me, and I always try to do everything I can to have people like me, and so, it’s just hard for me as a person with how I process things and then obviously the situation has not been easy either, but luckily, having a good support system, family around and just trying to stay distracted.”
Spiranac was accused of improving the lie of a teammate during the final round of the $1 million Internet Invitational, which was a three-on-three alternate shot match.
Spiranac said she was under the impression that it was permitted, adding in a separate Instagram Story that she is “painfully embarrassed” she wasn’t privy to the rule.
“It’s been an interesting week and a half, but I just want to thank everyone for reaching out, asking me how I’m doing, all the support, really means so much to me,” she said.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
