Celebrity Chefs and Friends golf tournament benefiting City Harvest is held at Alpine Country Club in Demarest on October 25, 2021. Former professional golfer Paige Spiranac. / Amy Newman-NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK
The retired golfer has big opinions on the current state of the game.
Paige Spiranac believes that professional golf is in a “rebuilding year.”
The 31-year-old content creator, who retired from playing the sport professionally in 2019, addressed current fan complaints about professional golf in a video posted on her X (formerly known as Twitter) on Wednesday, January 29.
Spiranac believes the biggest reason that public interest in golf has dipped over the years is the lack of star power — especially after the legendary Tiger Woods stopped playing regularly.
She added that a combination of other factors — such as “shortening the schedule,” “pace of play,” “not having the best players in the world,” and “less commercials” — is contributing to golf’s declining viewership.
However, she does believe that things will bounce back.
“There is nothing better than the back nine at a major, and I never wanna lose that magic,” she concluded.
https://x.com/PaigeSpiranac/status/1884703205105299508?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1884703205105299508%7Ctwgr%5Ee827be4a6a8fe8d9f3da0b2bddbdf0298e48907c%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.si.com%2Fonsi%2Fathlete-lifestyle%2Fpaige-spiranac-post-tiger-woods-golf-issues-head-turning-black-top
Spiranac has not been shy about calling out the PGA for the gripes that golf fans have tried to vocalize. In a separate X post, she mentioned how an amateur league is already fixing the “pace of play” issue.
“AJGA is a junior golf organization that had a red, yellow, green card system where after 3 holes you would get a time,” she wrote. “Green is ahead of pace, yellow is right around time and red was behind If you got two red cards then the group would be timed and then assessed penalties. It worked. You should be punished for slow play.”
https://x.com/PaigeSpiranac/status/1884708060331143469?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1884708060331143469%7Ctwgr%5Ee827be4a6a8fe8d9f3da0b2bddbdf0298e48907c%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.si.com%2Fonsi%2Fathlete-lifestyle%2Fpaige-spiranac-post-tiger-woods-golf-issues-head-turning-black-top
While Spiranac isn’t on the course professionally anymore, her online popularity has given her a voice in the golf community. She recently announced that she’ll be attending the WM Phoenix Open.
