Paige Spiranac Recalls Painful 'Sexual Favors' Rumors From Pro Golf Career

Paige Spiranac is recalling some painful memories during the early part of her golf career.

During an appearance on the Quiet Please! podcast, the golf social media influencer opened up about her experience playing in Dubai in 2015 at the Ladies Masters, a prestigious women's golf tournament.

For starters, Spiranac didn't fare well in her debut there. She missed the cut after shooting a 77 and 79, respectively.

"I'll never forget that," she said.

But then things intensified in the worst of ways, when rumors started flying that she "did sexual favors" to receive an invitation. The worst part is that those rumors were coming from her fellow competitors.

"I ended up going viral and this was back when people weren't going viral all the time and I didn't know how to handle it, and my whole life got flipped upside down," she said.

Spiranac suddenly found social media fame, with her following swelling from 500 followers to more than 100,000.

"I got this invite to play an LET [Ladies European Tournament]," she said. "I had just turned pro. I had never played golf outside the country. And everyone was like, 'It's low key, don't worry about it. No one is going to know if you play well or not."

The 31-year-old model and former NCAA golf champion said some of the women on the tour were friendly to her and supportive.

"But the majority, it was brutal," she said. "I would go on the range and girls would just scatter. No one wanted to hit next to me."

Related: Paige Spiranac Reveals Her Reaction to 'Happy Gilmore 2'

She continued, "There was constant comments like, 'I did sexual favors to get this invite,' and I was listening to it and they would say it within earshot 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."

Spiranac didn't earn her pro card but she's earned a huge following on social media. She has more than 4 million followers on Instagram; more than 1 million followers on X; and more than 1.6 followers on TikTok.

She also scored a cameo in Adam Sandler's Happy Gilmore 2.