Paige Spiranac

Paige Renee Spiranac (/spɪˈrænæk/ spi-RANAK;[1] born March 26, 1993) is an American social media personality, golf instructor, and former professional golfer. She played Division 1 college golf at both the University of Arizona and San Diego State University, winning All-Mountain West Conference honors during the 2012–13 and 2013–14 seasons, and leading the Aztecs to their first Mountain West Conference Championship in 2015.[2]

Paige Spiranac
Spiranac in 2019
Personal information
Full namePaige Renee Spiranac
Born (1993-03-26) March 26, 1993
Wheat Ridge, Colorado, U.S.
Height5 ft 7 in (170 cm)
Career
CollegeUniversity of Arizona
San Diego State University
Turned professionalDecember 2015
Former tour(s)Cactus Tour
Professional wins1

Early life and education

Spiranac was born in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Her father, Dan, was on the University of Pittsburgh Panthers football team, which won the 1976 national college championship. Her mother, Annette, was a professional ballerina.[3] Her older sister Lexie earned a college athletic scholarship, competing on Stanford's track team.[3]

Spiranac grew up in Monument, Colorado, where she did gymnastics and hoped to compete in the Olympics.[2] At 12, a twice-broken kneecap led to a decision to end her gymnastics career and try golf.[2] Her parents decided she would be homeschooled due to her history of being and her anxiety.[4] In her teens, Spiranac split her time between Scottsdale, Arizona, and Monument, Colorado.[3]

Career

Junior golf

In her early golf career, Spiranac won five tournaments on Colorado's junior golf circuit, including the 2010 CWGA Junior Stroke Play.[5] She became a top-20 world junior player, a top-5 college recruit, a two-time West Region Player of the Year, and a first-team All-American as a Future Collegians World Tour member. She earned a golf scholarship from the University of Arizona.[2]

College golf

In her freshman year in 2011–2012, Spiranac played golf for the University of Arizona Wildcats. She competed in the Windy City Intercollegiate, the Pac-12/SEC Challenge, and the Wildcat Invitational.[6]

Spiranac transferred to San Diego State for her sophomore year, gaining greater success in the 2012–2013 season. Her senior season ended with the Aztecs' first Mountain West Conference Championship, which she described as "one of the absolute happiest moments of my life."[2]

Cactus Tour

Spiranac debuted on the developmental Cactus Tour at the Las Colinas Club in Queen Creek, Arizona, in May 2016. A win over Hannah O’Sullivan, the then top-ranked amateur in the world, earned Spiranac her only tour victory.[7] In June 2016, Spiranac finished 17th out of 52 golfers at the Aliante Golf Club.[8] In July, she finished in seventh place at Walnut Creek in Mansfield, Texas.[9] Also in July, she made the cut at the Scottish Open in the Ladies' European Tour. [10]

Spiranac competed in the August/September 2016 CoBank Colorado Women's Open, placing ninth.[11]

In September 2016, Spiranac finished in a three-way second-place tie at Legacy in Phoenix, Arizona,[12] and she had another top-five finish at Trilogy in October.[13] She ended the season with $8,010 in winnings.

LPGA attempt

In August 2016, Spiranac competed in her first LPGA Qualifying Tournament but did not earn a card to play on the professional circuit.[14] In 2022, discussing Marshall football's upset of Notre Dame, she joked "Notre Dame is as bad as I was playing professional golf".[15]

Media

Spiranac has been featured in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition and Golf Digest. She writes a monthly column in Golf Magazine, with her first article published in the December 2018 issue.[16]

In 2017, Spiranac signed with Parsons Xtreme Golf (PXG) to represent its golf clubs on social media and in television ads.[17] That year, she also became a brand ambassador for 18Birdies to help market its golf app nationwide.[18] She has signed deals with Mizzen + Main and Philip Stein Watches.[19]

In 2021, Spiranac joined global sportsbook operator PointsBet as a brand ambassador, on-air personality,[20] and a "significant" equity stakeholder.[21]

In June 2022, Spiranac was named 'Sexiest Woman Alive' in the Maxim's 2022 Hot 100 list, the first athlete to attain the No.1 spot.[22]

Social media

Spiranac has been described as golf's top social media influencer.[23] As of October 2023, she has 3.9 million Instagram followers[24] and 359 thousand YouTube subscribers.[25] In July 2023, Spiranac launched a subscription-based website called OnlyPaige, which features golf instructional videos, livestreams, and vlogs.[23]

Spiranac has discussed being cyberbullied for "sexualizing women's golf."[26] When appearing in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, she stated that she wanted to use the platform to speak out about cyberbullying and to send a message of self-love.[27]

The LPGA Tour introduced a stricter dress code in July 2017, restricting plunging necklines, leggings, and short skirts. This triggered immediate criticism, characterized by the Fox Sports headline "LPGA slammed for 'slut-shaming' its own players after new dress code restrictions revealed".[28] Spiranac responded in a Fortune magazine op-ed piece days after the LPGA announcement.[29]

In February 2020, Spiranac started a podcast called Playing-A-Round with Paige Renee.[30]

Personal life

Spiranac married athletic trainer Steven Tinoco in 2018. On March 7, 2022, she announced that she was no longer married.[31]

References
  1. "Paige Spiranac Plays Golf Inside the Padres Ballpark" on YouTube. SkratchTV. Retrieved December 17, 2022.
  2. Shipnuck, Alan (February 1, 2017). "Paige Spiranac is trying to make peace with her place in the game". Golf.com. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  3. Stephens, Bob (July 18, 2009). "Vaulting to the top". Colorado Springs Gazette. Archived from the original on December 16, 2015. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
  4. "Paige Spiranac opens up on her dark past and mental health issues". Fox Sports. March 6, 2020. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
  5. Baines, Gary (April 21, 2016). "Cover Paige - Colorado Women's Golf Association". coloradowomensgolf.org. Archived from the original on May 21, 2018. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  6. "Paige Spiranac – 2011–12 Women's Golf Roster". University of Arizona Athletics. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  7. "Paige Spiranac gets first pro win on Cactus Tour | Golf Channel". Golf Channel. June 6, 2016. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  8. "2016 Event #18 Aliante Golf Course-Vegas". Cactus Tour. June 15, 2016. Archived from the original on February 21, 2018. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  9. "2016 Event #19 Walnut Creek". Cactus Tour. July 2, 2016. Archived from the original on February 21, 2018. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  10. "Paige Spiranac Makes Cut at LET's Scottish Open". Clubhouse.swingu.com. July 25, 2016.
  11. "2016 CoBank Colorado Women's Open". Cogf.bluegolf.com. September 2, 2016. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  12. "2016 Event #25 Legacy". Cactus Tour. September 29, 2016. Archived from the original on February 21, 2018. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  13. "2016 Event #26 Trilogy". Cactus Tour. October 5, 2016. Archived from the original on February 21, 2018. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  14. Lasky, Bret (August 24, 2016). "Paige Spiranac Ready for First LPGA Qualifying Tournament". LPGA. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  15. @PaigeSpiranac (September 10, 2022). "Notre Dame is as bad as I was playing professional golf" (Tweet). Retrieved September 12, 2022 – via Twitter.
  16. Spiranac, Paige (November 5, 2018). "GOLF's new columnist Paige Spiranac will add both style and substance to your game". Golf.com. Archived from the original on December 16, 2018. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
  17. "Paige Spiranac". PXG.com. 2017. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
  18. Matuszewski, Erik (March 27, 2017). "Paige Spiranac Teams With Golf Technology Startup 18Birdies For First TV Commercials". Forbes. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  19. "Philip Stein Announces Paige Spiranac as Newest Brand Ambassador". Twitter. December 13, 2018. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
  20. "Social Media Influencer Paige Spiranac Joins Team PointsBet". Total Sports Picks. January 27, 2021. Retrieved November 30, 2022.
  21. "PointsBet Adds Paige Spiranac, Golf's Most Influential Digital Media Personality, to Team". Prnewswire.com (Press release). Retrieved November 30, 2022.
  22. "'Sexiest Woman Alive' Paige Spiranac on Maxim's 2022 'Hot 100' Cover Story". GlamStyled.com. June 17, 2022. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
  23. Dojc, Mike. "Paige Spiranac Expands Her Budding Social Media Empire". Forbes. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
  24. "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
  25. "Paige Spiranac - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
  26. Gray, Andy (February 6, 2018). "Paige Spiranac gets personal on topic of bullying". SI.com. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  27. Mandell, Nina (February 6, 2018). "Paige Spiranac talks about appearance in SI Swimsuit". USA Today. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  28. "US LPGA slammed for 'slut-shaming' its own players after new dress code restrictions revealed". Fox News. July 17, 2017. Retrieved July 24, 2017.
  29. Spiranac, Paige (July 20, 2017). "The Progression of Women's Golf Is Plunging Further Than Our Necklines". Fortune. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
  30. Hendrick, Jaclyn (April 15, 2020). "Paige Spiranac's dating disasters included men using her for golf". New York Post.
  31. "Paige Spiranac reveals she's 'no longer married' in Instagram Q&A". New York Post. March 8, 2022.
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