Paige Spiranac doesn’t want golf fans turning their backs on the sport amid recent changes and challenges.
In a video shared Wednesday on her X page, the longtime golf influencer highlighted current issues engulfing the sport and why supporters should embrace this evolving era.
“So I have a smoking hot golf take that no one asked for and we’re going to talk about it anyway,” Spiranac began. “So there’s no secret that there’s been intense discord online regarding professional golf and why it’s not capturing the audience like it once did. Honestly, because there’s a lot of s–t going on.”
Spiranac, who played at a professional level before pivoting to social media, then rattled off several hot-button topics swirling around the sport such as the PGA Tour versus LIV Golf and how some of the world’s greatest players are no longer on The Tour, the length of the schedule, the upstart TGL, the pace on the course and money, among others.
“Golf is at a major disadvantage compared to other sports teams. You don’t have a personal connection to an individual golfer like you do to your hometown team, and, let’s be real, right now with golf, this is a perfect storm,” she said. “We always knew that golf was going to struggle once Tiger Woods wasn’t playing week-in and week-out. And with that happening, plus, all of those other issues that I mentioned, it is a rebuilding year.”
Amid Woods’ absence as he continues to recover from back surgery in September, Spiranac then stressed the importance of events such as the Ryder Cup, which pits the best American golfers against their European counterparts, explaining that “it gives people something bigger to root for.”
Spiranac was at the forefront of a wave of social media personalities that turned YouTube and social media golf into a legitimate alternative for fans, who don’t have the patience to follow a four-hour round on a weekend afternoon.
“It is so incredibly exciting so I feel, that as golf fans and golf lovers, we need to understand that professional golf is important to the growth of the game,” the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit personality said. “If you love YouTube golf or professional golf and professional golf enhances YouTube golf, all of this works together as an ecosystem and, I love golf, golf is everything to me, so I’m going to standby golf as if I would my hometown team and I feel like that’s what we need to do right now.”
As Spiranac wrapped up her thoughts, she expressed that if Jets fans have yet to give up on their championship-starved franchise, golf supporters can make it through trying times, too.
“We can still express our concerns and what we want to change, but we can’t turn our backs on professional golf. If Jets fans can show up year after year, then we can continue to support professional golf because remember, there is nothing better than the back nine at a major and I never want to lose that magic,” she concluded.
The video, which has since been viewed more than 400,000 times as of Thursday, elicited a flurry of responses from Spiranac’s followers.
“Needed to be said,” one X user wrote while another agreed, adding, “We need to embrace golf for what it is and enjoy the sport and the players in it no matter what tour they play on.”
When one X user called Spiranac “the voice of reason in the golf world,” she replied: “My wisdom is always on full display.”
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