Paige Spiranac played well enough during the Internet Invitational to reach the final match in the $1 million tournament, but the popular influencer has been struggling with the feedback she has received since the event aired.
Spiranac was one of 48 influencers and Internet personalities who played at the Internet Invitational earlier this year at Big Cedar Lodge in Ridgedale, Mo. The event, which was organized by Barstool Sports and Bob Does Sports, featured YouTube golfers and other personalities with various skill levels who competed for the $1 million purse.
The tournament was broken into a six-part YouTube series that was released in episodes over the last two weeks. Spiranac, Frankie Borrelli and Malosi “Mo” Togisala faced the trio of Brad Dalke, Francis Ellis and Cody “Beef” Franke in the final match. Dalke, Ellis and Franke, who died unexpectedly at the age of 31 last month, won the tournament.
After the third episode was released on Nov. 3, Spiranac broke down crying in a video on her Instagram story. She first shared a screenshot of a message she received from a fan that that read as follows, with the profanity edited by Larry Brown Sports: “I f—ing hate you. You stupid b–ch think your (sic) so much better than everyone at the internet invitational. Go kill yourself ouo (sic) stupid c–t.”
Spiranac said she had been receiving a lot of messages like that. She said she has “struggled socially my entire life” and that the negative feedback from the Internet Invitational brought out a lot of her “insecurities.”
“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,” Spiranac said, via Jenna Lemoncelli of the New York Post. “And when I was at the Internet invitational I felt really good … it was nice to feel that way.
“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.”
Spiranac said all of that well before the final episode of the Internet Invitational aired on Thursday, though she likely knew what would be featured. There was a cheating controversy during the final match in which Spiranac was accused of illegally improving her teammate’s lie. Though she is a former professional golfer, she said she did not know that matting down grass around the ball is illegal. Spiranac began crying when confronted. You can see the video here.
The 32-year-old Spiranac has over 4 million followers on Instagram and is very active on social media, particularly with her Instagram story. There was no content on her story or page on Friday, which may have something to do with the way she was portrayed in the final episode of the Internet Invitational.
