Paige Spiranac Reveals Why She Stopped Playing Professional Golf originally appeared on The Spun.
Before becoming one of the most popular content creators in sports, Paige Spiranac was trying to make a name for herself on the LPGA Tour.
Spiranac had an incredible college career, earning All-Mountain West honors while at San Diego State. In 2016, she debuted on the developmental Cactus Tour. Later that year, she participated in her first LPGA qualifier. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to make the main draw.
By 2017, Spiranac made the transition from professional golf to modeling. That turned out to be a smooth process for her. Not only was she featured in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition, she was eventually named “Sexiest Woman Alive” by Maxim.
While there’s no question Spiranac has done well for herself since retiring from professional golf, fans have always wondered why moved on from the sport so early in her career.
During a recent video Spiranac shared on X, she revealed that she dealt with golf course anxiety. It’s something she still battles to this day.
“So I have a really toxic love-hate relationship with the game of golf. And I have talked about this ad nauseam. It was one of the reasons why I stopped playing golf professionally,” Spiranac said. “I just could never get over the golf course anxiety. And I would just feel that my mind always won, and I was weak and I could just never overcome that feeling.
“There’s also something about the game of golf that makes you addicted to it but also makes you feel like the most worthless human being ever when you have a bad round. I’ve been working with a therapist on this. I love golf so much, but sometimes, I just can’t break through. It eats at me, and I know so many others can relate to this.”
As if dealing with golf course anxiety wasn’t bad enough, Spiranac was at the center of some awful rumors in 2015. She revealed on the “Quiet Please!” podcast that people accused her of performing “sexual favors” to get invited to the Dubai Masters.
“I show up and was doing hours of press, which I wasn’t prepared for. I had no training to do this. And I would say there were a couple of girls who were really supportive and who were nice, but the majority, it was brutal,” Spiranac said, via the New York Post. “I would go on the range and girls would just scatter. No one wanted to hit next to me.
“There were constant comments like ‘I did sexual favors to get this invite,’ and I was listening to it — and they would say [it] within earshots of me. It was tough. Not knowing what I was doing, it was my first pro event, it was really difficult. I just wanted to be liked and I played so bad. It was horrendous.”
That was a rough experience for Spiranac, but it’s safe to say it didn’t break her spirit. If anything, golf fans have applauded her for being so open about the early stages of her career.
Related: Paige Spiranac Wows Golf Fans With ‘Natural’ Appearance
Paige Spiranac Reveals Why She Stopped Playing Professional Golf first appeared on The Spun on Aug 5, 2025
This story was originally reported by The Spun on Aug 5, 2025, where it first appeared.
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