Golf influencer Paige Spiranac said she’s taken a step back from posting online because she’s “in a bit of a funk” and trying to work through it.
During a fan Q&A on her Instagram Story, Spiranac explained that she’s been dealing with anxiety for some time, and “overthinking everything,” resulting in her being absent online.
“I am in a bit of a funk, a rut if you will, and its not like a one or two day thing,” Spiranac said. “This has been going on for a little bit. I feel like I’ve just been so in my head about everything and I’m just trying to work through it. I think thats why I haven’t been posting as much because I am just overthinking everything and I just feel like my anxiety has taken control.
“I’m trying to push myself outside of that and post more and get back to what I was doing before. I feel like I haven’t been active because I’ve just been in my own head, in this kind of funky rut and we’re working through it.”
Spiranac said she has also taken a break from playing golf as she deals with these issues.
Spiranac went on to explain that she feels she is “actually really misunderstood” when asked the biggest misconception about her.
“I almost felt bad for myself for such a long time and I was frustrated why people weren’t seeing me in a certain way or seeing me for me,” she said. “And then I realized that they’re only seeing what I’m showing.
“I can sit there and I can complain about it or I can do something about it. And that’s showing more of myself and my personality. I think that I put so many walls up because this job can be draining sometimes and quite soul sucking. I think i put barriers up to protect myself and started to morph and change into a person that I didn’t really recognize and that I didn’t see as well.
“This year it’s more about showing and less explaining and trying to defend myself and just being who I am.”
Spiranac added that she’s been focused on creating a “a fun golf series” and “potentially a product” of her own.
The internet personality has been open about her mental health, suffering from “severe social anxiety,” and the pitfalls of living life in the spotlight.
Spiranac previously opened up about dealing with negative comments about her online during the $1 million Internet Invitational last August.
She said that she received “tens of thousands of death threats” when she was accused of cheating over pushing down high grass in the rough on the 9th hole, allowing Malosi Togisala to have a cleaner shot at the ball at the event finale.
Spiranac broke down in tears on camera as she explained that she didn’t touch the ball and it wasn’t her intention to cheat.
Barstool’s Francis Ellis later said Spiranac quietly donated all of her day-two Barstool Sports Internet Invitational skins winnings — about $15,000 or $16,000 — to the Cody “Beef” Franke foundation.
Franke won the competition and then passed away months later.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
