Kai Trump improves by 8 strokes but misses cut at LPGA Annika event
Kai Trump, a high school senior playing in an LPGA Tour event for reasons beyond her ability to hit the golf ball, went from “definitely really nervous” in the first round to “very calm and at peace” Friday in the second round.
All in all, an impressive development.
Still, the 18-year-old Trump failed to make the cut after finishing last out of 108 players with a total of 18 overs over two rounds, 27 shots behind leader Grace Kim and 17 shots away from the projected cut line. President Trump’s granddaughter improved by eight strokes to shoot a 75 in the second round of the tournament hosted by Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Fla.
How dramatic was the recovery? Trump had nine bogeys, two doubles and a birdie on Thursday. He was briefly under par a day later when he birdied the par-3 third hole, but made bogey on the fourth and made three bogeys on the par-4 fifth hole.
Trump rallied to birdie three of his next six holes. How relieved was he? He literally laughed at his triple bogey.
“Such things will happen,” he said. “Once it happens, you can’t go back in time and fix the problem. The best I can do is move on. For example, I told my assistant Allan. [Kournikova]I kind of started laughing, ‘that’s it.’
“We got that out of the way, so let’s move on. It was pretty easy to keep going after that.”
Especially on par-three No. 12, where he nearly made the first hole of his life.
“I hit hard,” Trump said. “I tried not to go too high because of the wind. Yeah, it was a great shot.”
What was he going to tell his grandfather about the tour? “I shot a great 18 two days in a row.”
“I did everything I could for this tournament, so I guess if you prepare right the nerves… will always be there, right?” he said. “They can be toned down a little bit. So I would say that.”
Critics among and beyond his nearly 9 million social media followers have been relentless in pointing out his apparent privilege. provide sponsor invitation. Pelican Golf Club owner Dan Doyle Jr. cheerfully acknowledged that Trump’s involvement had little to do with talent and much to do with public relations.
“When you look at the history of exemptions, the purpose of the exemption is to draw attention to an event,” Doyle told reporters this week. “You should see him live, he is so nice to talk to.
“And through Instagram, it attracted a lot of viewers who wouldn’t normally watch women’s golf. That was the hope. And we’re seeing that now.”
Trump attends the Benjamin School in Palm Beach and will attend the University of Miami next year. He is ranked 461st by the American Junior Golf Assn.
Stepping into the LPGA with a deep gallery of spectators and a contingent of Secret Service agents surrounding her could be intimidating. But Trump said the experience was “pretty great.”
It was an eventful week for Trump. He played nine holes on a professional tour Monday with tournament host Sorenstam, who empathized with the difficulty of handling an intense maelstrom of criticism and support.
“I honestly don’t know how he did it,” Sorenstam said. “He must be a tough guy on the inside to be 18 and hear all the comments. I’m sure we can all understand what it’s like to get criticism here and there, but he takes it a thousand times over.”
Sorenstam recalled that she earned an exemption from the Bank of America Colonial in 2003 and became the first woman to play in a men’s PGA Tour event in 58 years. He hit a 14-foot putt on the 18th green for a 36-hole total of 5/145. She threw the golf ball into the stands, wiped away her tears and was embraced by her husband, David Esch.
“This was perhaps a somewhat controversial invitation at the time,” Sorenstam said. “All in all, I definitely appreciated it. It just brings attention to the tournament, to the sport, to women’s sports, which I think is what we want.”
