Former pro golfer turned Maxim’s 2022 “world’s sexiest woman” Paige Spiranac has truly come a long way from strutting her stuff on a golf course.
The 29-year-old has managed to amass a loyal legion of fans thanks to her fabulous figure and wow-worthy online content.
It hasn’t always been glamorous photoshoots, gorgeous dresses, and brushing shoulders with Hollywood stars for Paige though.
There was a time when the blonde beauty was a prominent golfer with an incredible career under her belt.
Born on March 26, 1993, in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Paige’s love of sports definitely ran in the family.
Her mom was a professional ballet dancer, and her father was a football player that won the 1976 NCAA National Championship with the Pittsburgh Panthers.
Paige Spiranac almost had a different career
Despite going on to have a successful golf career, golfing wasn’t even Paige’s first-choice sport.
Speaking to Esquire, she revealed how her golf career had come as an unplanned move, saying she had originally wanted to become a gymnast.
“From age 6 to 12, I dedicated pretty much everything to that, until I got injured really badly,” she said.
The future social media starlet suffered a broken kneecap and as a result, had to quit from the sport.
However, soon after, it was her dad who introduced her to and suggested that she try out golf.
“My dad was like, ‘I think you would really love golf. You have a good personality for it.’”
“I hit the first golf ball and loved it right away,” she added.
Paige Spiranac’s early golfing career
Paige went on to play college golf at the University of Arizona and San Diego State University.
In her junior year, she had three top-20 performances and was also the top finisher, as SportsKeeda reports.
She was also named the West Region Player of the Year twice by Future Collegians World Tour.
Paige played in the U.S. Girls’ Junior Amateur three times too.
Paige Spiranac career reaches a high
Paige’s career really took off in 2015 when the beauty won the 100th Colorado Women’s Golf Association Match Play Championship.
She finished nine under par, as DailyMail reports.
Following her performance, Paige saw a massive spike in her Instagram followers and was indebted with offers from golf and fashion labels.
Despite her success at the time, Paige didn’t do too well as a pro, with the bombshell struggling in the big leagues.
Following her failure to make the LPGA Tour, Paige was forced to step away from the course once and for all.
Why did Paige Spiranac quit golf?
In 2016, Paige announced that she was retiring from the sport.
On her podcast Playing Around, Paige admitted that Golf was the “absolute worse place.”
She said this was, “because I am the exact opposite of everything that a golfer should encompass.”
She added, “I’m not refined, I’m raw and real and I wear what I want and I have always been so different and golf is not that way.”
Last year, in a video she uploaded to her YouTube Paige further opened up about her exit from golf.
“For me, it was never physical ability. It was always mental,” she said.
She then went on to note how she never believed in herself and her talents and couldn’t perform well in a tournament – despite being able to play well.
Paige Spiranac becomes internet sensation
Since retiring from the sport, the golfer-turned-influencer has managed to become a true Internet sensation.
Paige boasts over 3.6 million followers on Instagram, with her YouTube channel about to reach the 300,000 subscribers threshold.
Although she is no longer involved in professional golf, she often posts golf-related content on her socials – much to the delight of her fans.
She is also no stranger to breaking the internet by sharing sizzling snaps showing off plenty of her sun-kissed skin.
But her barely-there outfits and pulse-racing posts have not come short of controversy from fans.
Paige Spiranac hits back at trolls
Paige is is no stranger to responding to trolls who criticize her posts and outfits.
In the summer, she uploaded a playful video to her Twitter of her eating whipped cream from a bottle.
The majority of her fans were loving the sweet clip, but one troll caught Paige’s attention – and she decided to hit back.
“How can anybody take her seriously?” the Twitter user said in a now-deleted Tweet, as Golf Magic reports.
“Lighten up. It’s a stupid video. Not supposed to be taken serious,” Paige replied.
Similarly, last year, she hit out at body-shaming trolls with yet another sensational snap she posted on her Instagram.
In the snap, Paige rocked a green jacket with nothing at all underneath, leaving plenty of her sun-kissed skin bared.
“’No one will ever take you seriously if you keep posting pictures with cleavage.’ So here’s to continuing doing what I want,” she wrote in the caption.
We can’t wait to see what Paige has up her sleeve next!