Kai Trump didn’t have the best professional golf debut.
The 18-year-old granddaughter of President Donald Trump came in last place in her first LPGA tournament, missing the cut at The ANNIKA on Friday (November 14) held at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Florida.
Kai shot a 13-over 83 in the first round of the tournament on Thursday, November 13. She showed some improvement in the second round on Friday, finishing with a 5-over 75, but ended up in last place in the 108-player field and will not be continuing in the tournament.
Keep reading to find out more…“The first day, I was definitely really nervous,” Kai told Golf Channel. “I think the nerves just got to me. When I went out there today, I felt very calm and peaceful to be honest with you. And, yeah, that’s why I played better.”
“I did everything I could possibly have done for this tournament,” added Kai, who is the Donald Trump Jr. and Vanessa Trump.
Ahead of the tournament, Kai shared that she got some advice from her mom’s boyfriend Tiger Woods.
“I mean, he is the best golfer in the entire world. I would say that. And even better person,” Kai said of Tiger while speaking to Fox News Digital on Tuesday, November 11. “He told me to go out there and have fun and just go with the flow. Whatever happens, happens.”
Kai‘s inclusion at the tournament came with a lot of backlash as she received a sponsor exemption, with critics arguing that she was only allowed to play because of her last name and her large social media following. (She has over 2.5 million followers on Instagram.)
Dan Doyle Jr., the owner of The Pelican Club, defended the controversial decision to let Kai compete.
“The idea of the exemption, when you go into the history of exemptions, is to bring attention to an event,” he said. “You got [to see Kai] live. She’s lovely to speak to and she brought a lot of viewers through Instagram and things like that that normally don’t watch women’s golf.”
You can find out more about Tiger Woods and Vanessa Trump‘s relationship here.
Source: justjared.com
