Paige Spiranac responds to shock claims 'sexual favours' got her invite into golf event

Paige Spiranac has revealed how a number of Ladies European Tour players thought she "did sexual favours" in order to get an invite into the 2015 Dubai Ladies Masters. 

Spiranac, who turned 32 this week, is now one of the biggest golf social media influencers of all time with 4m Instagram followers. 

That is 400,000 more followers than Tiger Woods and 1m more than Rory McIlroy. 

But back some 10 years ago when she was just 22, Spiranac had only just emerged on the social media scene.

Things escalated quickly though, especially after she was invited to compete in the 2015 Dubai Ladies Masters.

Spiranac's name very quickly made headlines around the world as she was invited to make her pro debut on the Ladies European Tour.

While a first appearance in an LET event marked a significant milestone moment for Spiranac, who had wanted to make it big as a Tour pro ever since she was a young girl, it turned out to be a "brutal" week for her, something Paige openly admitted on the latest episode of the Quiet Please! Podcast. 

When asked by co-host and Ladies European Tour pro Mel Reid what she remembered most about the 2015 Dubai Ladies Masters, Spiranac wishes to forget the experience. 

"Yeah, that was like the worst moment of my life," said Spiranac. 

"I'll never forget that." 

According to Spiranac, she received a number of nasty comments from fellow pros that week such as "doing sexual favours to get an invite". 

Spiranac said: "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. I went from having 500 followers to 100,000 followers.

"I got this invite to play an LET. 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.'

"I show up and was doing hours of press, which I wasn't prepared for. I had no training to do this, and I would say there were a couple of girls who were really supportive and who were nice, but the majority, it was brutal. 

"I would go on the range and girls would just scatter. No one wanted to hit next to me. 

"There were constant comments like 'I did sexual favours 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 went on to shoot rounds of 77 and 79 to miss the cut at the Dubai Ladies Masters.

She then received some backlash from fellow pros and golf fans, who criticised tournament sponsors for giving her an invite in the first place.

Spiranac can see why she may have ruffled a few feathers, though.

"You work your a** off, week in and week out… and here comes me and I just walk on in," said Spiranac. 

"I got the new Callaway bag and I had Lululemon that week. I can see why it ruffled some feathers."

Watch the full interview here: 

While the 2015 Dubai Ladies Masters may have been a week to forget for Spiranac, who never ended up making it big as a Tour pro, it's fair to say things have worked out fairly well for her.

Spiranac has 4m followers on Instagram and 1.6m on TikTok, making her one of the biggest golf social media influencers. 

So much so, she was recently invited to take part in the PGA Tour's Creator Classic.

Spiranac's net worth is estimated to be around $4m in 2025.