One of golf’s hottest influencers found herself in some hot water at the massively popular Internet Invitational.
During the final round of the tournament, which took place earlier this month but was broadcast on YouTube on Thursday, Paige Spiranac was called out for cheating at the $1-million event.
The Internet Invitational was spearheaded by Barstool Sports’ founder Dave Portnoy, who played a large role at the tournament pitting 48 YouTube and social media personalities against each other in various competitions at Big Cedar Lodge’s Cliffhangers course.
In the final, the team of former US Amateur champion Brad Dalke and Barstool’s Francis Ellis and Cody ‘Beef’ Franke (the competition was filmed not long before Franke’s death from a “sudden medical issue” late last month) faced off against the team of Spiranac, Barstool’s Frankie Borelli, and Good Good Golf’s Malosi Togisala.
During the alternate-shot matchup, Spiranac was accused of cheating after English pro golfer and YouTuber Peter Finch noticed her trampling down some grass in front of a ball in the rough. Doing so improved the lie for teammate Togisala.
After Togisala plays an incredible escape, Portnoy is seen asking if “Paige put that on a tee” for him.
“That lie in the rough there, it was s—. Paige has gone ahead to the ball and literally pressed down all the long in front so he could hit it out,” Finch said, with a clip showing Spiranac appeared to bend over and press down the long grass with her hands.
“There’s no way he could have hit that shot without that.”
Finch discussed it with a playing partner before deciding to wait to see how the hole played out before bringing up the violation.
Spiranac’s team wound up losing the hole, making it a non-issue, but the blond bombshell was given a heads up from Finch.
“I thought you could do that. I didn’t realize you couldn’t do that. I didn’t move the ball,” Spiranac said.
After Ellis replied that “you can’t stomp around in long grass and create a clear path behind or in front of the ball,” Spiranac became very emotional, reiterating that she “wasn’t trying to cheat.”
“I would never do that,” she adds. “I don’t want people to think that I would try to cheat.”
What are the rules?
According to the Rules of Golf, what Spiranac did was a violation – Rule 8.1 states under “course played as it is found” – says “actions that are not allowed” include “move, bend or break any growing or attached natural object.”
The consequence for this rule breach is a “loss of hole in match play.”
The team of Dalke, Ellis and Franke ultimately came out as winners of the competition after Borelli hit a chip shot into the water on the final hole of a thrilling, back-and-forth round.
Spiranac has yet to comment on the controversy, but last week made an emotional post on social media over ‘hate’ messages she has recently received from online trolls.
Spiranac shared a recent direct message on her Instagram Story and was brought to tears while opening up about her emotional journey to stardom on the Internet.
The screenshot, shared Monday, was posted with the caption “my DMs lately.”
WARNING: Vulgar language
“I f—— hate you,” the message read. “You stupid b—- think you’re so much better than everyone at the internet invitational. Go kill yourself you stupid c—.”
Spiranac then described how messages like these deeply affect her and trigger “insecurities” from her past.
“This hate for some reason has just been really hitting home for me. I struggled socially my entire life … in big groups of people, making friends, keeping friends, relating to other people, reading social cues, saying the right thing at the right time,” Spiranac said.
“I know it might sound weird considering what I do, but I’m just not effortlessly liked … It’s just hard for me in big groups of people. So, at the end of the invitational, I was really excited because I felt like I could fit in in the industry.”
This is when the emotions hit Spiranac, prompting her to wipe away tears while continuing.
“So it’s just been really hard to see this reaction to being unliked and hated … I know there are more important things in life than wanting to be liked and I want to fit in – and I’ve tried for a lot of my life to find places where I can fit in. And when I was at the Internet invitational I felt really good … It was nice to feel that way,” Spiranac said.
“And then now to watch it back and the deep insecurities of childhood whatever is coming all back and its confirmation that no you’re actually not liked, you’re annoying and no one likes you – and you suck and you’re terrible and all these things. And it’s just hard because you feel good in that moment, then it’s like ‘just kidding.’”