Paige Spiranac opens up about ‘death threats’ after Internet Invitational

The Internet Invitation put Paige Spiranac in a bad light and she received a lot of hate afterwards.

Spiranac was part of the final group in the 48-man tournament featuring golf influencers and YouTubers run by Barstool Sports and Bob Does Sports. He was paired with Barstool’s Frankie Borrelli and Good Good Golf’s Malosi Togisala, along with Good Good’s Brad Dalke and Barstool’s Cody “Beefe” Franke and Frances Ellis.

Spiranac’s team lost the $1 million prize on the 18th hole of the final match, which many viewers considered mixed after both Spiranac and Togisala were involved in cheating scandals. Spiranac began to cry as he developed a lie during the final match, claiming that he thought it was allowed. It was later claimed that Togisala used the tilt on his rangefinder; Rangefinders were allowed, but the use of tilt was not.

CLICK HERE TO GET MORE SPORTS NEWS ON FOXNEWS.COM

Spiranac, who got angry at Ellis earlier in the championship by saying he had never played “competitive golf” before, said he had received “tens of thousands of death threats” since the championship match was broadcast on YouTube in what had been an “interesting week”.

“The last week and a half has probably been the worst hate I’ve received in the 10 years I’ve been doing this,” Spiranac said on her Instagram Story. “I’m talking tens of thousands of death threats, people telling me to kill myself, the most vile, horrible things you can say to a person, those were in my DMs to the point where we were discussing that I should potentially get a restraining order. I mean, this is serious stuff. It’s not easy and it hasn’t been easy.”

Spiranac has been noticeably quiet on social media since the championship bout went down.

Paige Spiranac attends the 2025 US Open with Maestro Dobel Tequila, the “Official Tequila” of the US Open, at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City on August 28, 2025. (Getty Images for Anna Webber/Maestro Dobel Tequila)

TWO-TIME US OPEN CHAMPION BRYSON DECHAMBEAU CONTINUES TO FINE TUNE EVERY AREA OF HIS GAME

“I know people were wondering why I wasn’t posting or talking about it. I needed to distance myself for my mental health,” she said.

“One of the things I really struggle with is wanting to be loved and accepted, and I don’t want anyone to dislike me, and I’m always trying to do whatever I can to have people like me. So it’s been very difficult for me in terms of how I handle things as a person, and of course it hasn’t been easy. But luckily, I have a good support system, I have a family around me, and I just try to distract myself.”

Spiranac again claimed that he did not know the rules about improving lies, saying he would never knowingly cheat.

“I feel painfully ashamed for not knowing this rule…” she said in an Instagram Story, alluding to the karma affecting her for her comments to Ellis. “I would never cheat on purpose. In all the years I’ve been playing golf, I’ve never been accused of cheating. There were so many cameras on me, it would have been crazy to openly cheat with so many people around, so many cameras. So I made a mistake, I’ve now learned it was a violation of the rules and I’ll never do it again.”

Paige Spiranac plays on the 17th green during the Creator Classic at Philly Cricket Club ahead of the Truist Championship at Philadelphia Cricket Club on May 7, 2025 at Flourtown Philadelphia. (Ben Jared/PGA TOUR via Getty Images)

CLICK TO REACH THE FOX NEWS APPLICATION

The event was filmed over the summer at Cedar Lodge Resort in Ridgedale, Missouri, with the final match played at Payne’s Valley. One of the winners, Franke, died earlier this month.

Spiranac was one of several former professionals in the field, including Dalke and Wesley Brian.

Follow Fox News Digital Sports streaming on Xand subscribe Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.