The unconventional rise and evolution of Paige Spiranac

She's perhaps the most famous female golfer on the planet, yet many of her biggest fans possibly haven't her play a full round. In fact, since she retired from the professional golf in 2016, her profile only grew! Let's look at the modern phenomenon that is Paige Spirinac.

In fact, since she prematurely stepped away from the sport at just 23 years old she's become a top-level influencer – just on Instagram alone she has more than 3.7 million followers.

Picture: Instagram (@_paige.renee)

While getting chosen as the world's sexiest woman in 2022 by Maxim magazine has a lot to do with that, there's more to Spirinac's story than just good looks.

It all began in March 1993, when Paige Spiranac was born into a family of sports fanatics. Her father was a Pittsburgh Panthers University football player, and her mother was a professional ballet dancer.

But that wasn't all, her older sister, Lexie, was granted a track and field Stanford scholarship; whilst her aunt, Bonnie Gadusek, was a professional tennis player. It was sure that sports would play a huge role in Paige Spiranac's life.

As she told Maxim magazine, her first choice was to do gymnastics, but a double injury on her kneecap forced her to quit her Olympic dream at the age of 12. A huge blow given the promise she had shown in the sport.

Her gymnastics training system was not as kind to her, however, and she was bullied by teammates and competitors. In the same interview, she told: "The girls were vicious. They would spit in my drink. I remember I brought in cake for my birthday, and they all threw it out in front of me."

After gymnastics, she tried her hand at tennis with the help of her aunt, Bonnie Gadusek —who got to number ten on the WTA list in 1985—. But after just two weeks, she realized tennis wasn't for her.

One day, Paige Spiranac accompanied her father to a golf course. "I fell in love with it instantly." And, at that moment, Spiranac's life changed forever.

In a short amount of time, the young girl made it to the top 20 junior female golf players in the world and was granted a golf scholarship to the University of Arizona. But college changed everything, especially, her career in golf.

As she explained to Maxim magazine: "I think I had a better junior golf career than I did a college career. I didn't live up to the expectations I had, or my coaches had. I'm athletically gifted and physically gifted and everyone could see I was talented. But mentally I didn't have enough time to develop…"

Paige Spiranac decided to transfer to San Diego State University. As she recalls: "It was my senior year, and I said I don't have to play golf anymore. And it was the best feeling ever. Then I took two weeks off and missed it so much."

But luckily, she didn't quit golf. In 2015, a victory in the Colorado Golf Association Match Play Championship (finishing nine strokes under par), led Dan Register, editor of the Total Frat Move, to write an essay about the golfer that read a lot more like a love letter than anything else. The piece went viral almost immediately.

Spiranac's media attention sparked: "That's what started my whole career. I went from 500 followers to 100,000 overnight. My life changed completely in the blink of an eye."

Indeed, her life changed. Paige Spiranac started receiving hundreds of partnership offers and a lot of media attention. The 22-year-old girl jumped into the opportunity that golf had just opened up for her.

In 2015, Paige Spiranac was invited to her first professional tournament: the Ladies European Tour in Dubai. But the tournament didn't go very well, and, although Paige hasn't officially retired, she hasn't competed since 2016.

Despite putting aside her professional golf career, Spiranac is a worldwide female golf star and has partnered up with many brands related to her sport: Club Champion, X-Golf simulator, Shot Scope, and premium sportswear company, Dynamic Brands.

Picture: Instagram (@_paige.renee)

On top of everything else, she hosts a successful podcast called 'Playing A Round with Paige', where the influencer talks about sports, golf, and life in general.

The golf player has confessed: "If you had told me senior year of college, that my life would take this path, I would have laughed in your face. I never expected any of this to happen, but I'm so grateful that it did."

Paige is not ashamed of what she has become and calls herself an influencer. "I'm really able to love who I am and what I'm doing through content creation and being an influencer. So, I'm happy with how everything turned out. I wish I played golf at a higher level and accomplished more, but I wouldn't trade this for the world."

As Spiranac has shared on her social media: "Had so much fun at the @MaximMag hot 100 party last night! Still in shock to see my face on the cover!" But as a woman who just entered her 30s, she will surely have more to come in the future.