Paige Spiranac

Paige Spiranac is a retired professional golf player, fitness enthusiast, podcaster and an actor.

About Paige Spiranac

Introduction

Paige Spiranac is a retired professional golf player, fitness enthusiast, podcaster and an actor. The 30-year-old social media influencer is popularly known as ‘bombshell’ in the world of sports. She is also a skilled instructor, recognized for her amazing golf techniques. She has amassed over 7 million followers through her engaging content and bold pictures across social media platforms. Her fan base seems to be ever-growing.

Early life and family background

Spiranac was born to Annette and Dan Spiranac in Wheat Ridge, Colorado and most of her childhood was spent in Monument. Spiranac has an equally talented elder sister, Lexie, who got a scholarship at Stanford and was welcomed as a field and track athlete to their sports team. The Croatian descent influencer and her sister are both blessed with athletic, performance genes. While Spiranac’s mother was a professional ballerina, her father was a Pittsburgh Panther college football team member.

Taking after her parents, at the age of 6, Spiranac envisioned becoming a gymnast. She even dreamed of competing in the Olympics someday. Spiranac began practicing gymnastics for eight hours a day, six days a week. Around that time, her parents chose to homeschool her so she could focus completely on gymnastics. Her parents understood their child’s needs and relocated to Colorado Springs from Denver to be nearer to the training center. Spiranac managed to jump from the level six category to Elites through her hard work and persistence. Her impeccable performance got her an invite from the USA Gymnastics National Team, Karolyi Ranch. 

When Spiranac was 12, she suffered a fractured knee cap for the second time, which made her unfit for gymnastics. Her hopes of making it to the Olympics one day shattered in that very moment. But, the courageous girl didn’t give up on herself or  her dreams. Since she didn’t want to quit professional sports, for months, she brainstormed ways to become an athlete. Spiranac then decided to pursue golf and began playing as a junior golfer. Later on, she was made captain of the women's golf team in her college and eventually became a professional golfer. Spiranac is grateful to her parents for their constant support and introducing her to golf at a very young age.

Education

Spiranac was home-schooled since her parents wanted her to concentrate on gymnastics and excel in it. She then enrolled in the Mesa Distance Learning Program from grade 7th to 12th. After completing her schooling, Spiranac was hired by the Arizona Wildcats at the University of Arizona for their 2011-2012 season. In 2012, she transferred to San Diego State University for graduation in Communications. She, however, didn’t get the degree, and became an internet sensation instead. Spiranac had planned on finishing her last semester, but never did. In an interview she revealed, "I didn't even finish my last semester of college. I never got my degree, which is something that's so crazy and I've never talked about that.” 

Golf Career

Junior

2006-2011

In 2006, Paige Spiranac won Colorado Junior Match Play Championship in the Girls' 10-12 division. The following year, she secured the championship title in the same tournament's Girls' 13-14 age division. In 2008, Spiranac claimed the Colorado Junior Match Play Championship in the Girls' 15-16 age division, highlighting her consistent performances and talent on the golf course. 2009 provided Spiranac with the opportunity to compete in the U.S. Girls' Junior Championship, where she showcased her abilities at the national level. These early achievements in junior golf laid the foundation for Spiranac's future endeavors in the sport, contributing to her growth and development as a golfer. These accomplishments also played a significant role in setting the stage for her transition into collegiate and professional golf. Spiranac established herself as one of the top-ranked junior golfers globally despite not playing for a high school golf team. She demonstrated her talent by winning five out of seven tournaments in the Colorado Junior Golf Circuit. Her victory in the CWGA Junior Stroke play in 2010 solidified her position as one of the top 20 junior players globally, leading to a golf scholarship from the University of Arizona. She was ranked among the top five college recruits, showcasing her potential and promise as a young golfer.

Spiranac earned the title of West Region Player of the Year twice, highlighting her consistent success and dominance in her region. She received All-America honors on two occasions, emphasizing her exceptional skills and contributions to the sport on a national level. Spiranac found success on the Future Collegians World Tour (FCWT), winning five events between 2009 and 2011 and solidifying her reputation as a rising star in the golfing world. The University of Arizona recognized Spiranac's talent and offered her a golf scholarship, leading her to join the university in 2011 and continue her golf journey at the collegiate level

College

2011-2012

During the 2011-2012 academic year, Paige Spiranac competed in various golf events representing the University of Arizona Wildcats as a freshman. Among the tournaments she participated in were the Windy City Intercollegiate, the Pac-12/SEC Challenge, and the Wildcat Invitational. Spiranac's performance during the Windy City Intercollegiate was particularly notable, as she achieved her best score of the year, shooting an impressive 73 on two separate occasions.

2012-2013

Deciding to pursue her sophomore year at San Diego State, Paige experienced a surge of success during the 2012-2013 season. Her outstanding performances earned her the prestigious honor of being named to the First-Team All-Mountain West. Notable finishes during this season included a fifth-place spot at the Cal Classic, a sixth-place position at the Mountain West Championship, and a commendable nineteenth-place finish at the NCAA Central Regional Championships.

2013-2015

Moving forward to her junior season in 2013-2014, Spiranac continued to excel, receiving Second-Team All-Mountain West honors. Her dedication and skill resulted in one top-ten finish at the Mountain West Championship. Paige's senior year was nothing short of historic for the San Diego State Aztecs golf team. She played an instrumental role in leading her team to secure their first-ever Mountain West Conference Championship in the school's history. In July 2015, Spiranac's golf prowess was on full display at the 100th Colorado Women's Golf Association Match Play Championship held at Raccoon Creek Golf Course. In an intense 35-hole title match against Brittany Fan from the University of Colorado Boulder, Paige emerged victorious, finishing an astounding nine strokes under par to claim the championship title. In 2015 again, Paige Spiranac achieved a historic milestone by winning the Mountain West Conference championship in women's golf as a member of the San Diego State Aztecs during her senior year. This marked the first time in the university's history that they secured the title.

2016

Paige Spiranac made her professional debut on the developmental Cactus Tour in May 2016 at the Las Colinas Club in Queen Creek, Arizona. In just her third start on the tour, she achieved a sudden-death victory over Hannah O'Sullivan, who was the top-ranked amateur in the world at that time. This win marked Spiranac's only victory on the Cactus Tour. In her next tournament at Stallion Mountain, she finished ninth and earned an $800 prize. In June, Spiranac participated in the tournament at Aliante Golf Club, where she finished 17th out of 52 golfers and received a $575 prize. Continuing her tour appearances, she secured a seventh-place finish at Walnut Creek in Mansfield, Texas, in July, with a score of eight over par, earning $600. Spiranac cut and competed in the Scottish Open on the Ladies European Tour in July. In the CoBank Colorado Women's Open held in August-September 2016, she finished ninth with a score of one-under-par and received $1,750. In September, she achieved a three-way second-place tie at Legacy in Phoenix, Arizona, earning $935. This was one of her best finishes of the year. In October, Spiranac recorded another top-five finish at Trilogy, with a final round of two-under-par, and received $800. Overall, she accumulated $8,010 in winnings throughout the season on the Cactus Tour. She participated in prestigious events like the Omega Dubai Ladies Classic gaining recognition and financial rewards. Her accomplishments even landed her on the cover of "Golf Digest" magazine. In August 2016, Spiranac took part in her inaugural LPGA Qualifying Tournament to obtain a card to compete professionally. Regrettably, Spiranac fell short in her quest to secure a card during the qualifying tournament.

Net worth 2023

Spiranac’s net worth in 2023 is reported to be $3 million. She has various streams of income, one of which being, payment she receives during tournaments. The former golfer does modeling for fitness and sports magazines. She keeps getting offers for sponsors and endorsement deals during sports meet ups. She also gets paid for advertising, social media posts and has partnerships with many athletic brands, which is her major source of income. Reportedly, Spiranac charges around $14,000 per post on social media. The influencer also launched her website called “OnlyPaige” in 2023, which offers engaging content, including golf tutorials, instructional content and exclusive photos, to its subscribers.

Brand endorsements

In 2017, Spiranac signed a deal with Parsons Xtreme Golf. The very same year, she became brand ambassador and spokesperson for 18Birdies. She is also working in partnership with Octagon, an athletic company. In 2021, she was made the brand ambassador and on-air personality of a global sportsbook operator, PointsBet. Additionally, she has inked contracts with various big companies such as Mizzen + Main, Philip Stein Watches, Callaway Golf, PXG Golf, Uggs and Cybersmile.

Cars

Spiranac is a proud owner of Ferrari Portofino M, which is worth around $200,000.

Social Media rise

Spiranac rose to stardom during her last year of college. It happened after the golf influencer began to share her pictures and trick-shot videos online. Her videos garnered a lot of attention, and got viral within weeks. When people started to interact with her posts and admire her golf skills, she went on to become a professional golf player.  Spiranac then commenced posting workout videos to guide fans how to stay in shape. In no time, Spiranac became immensely popular across social media platforms. She currently has 3.8 million followers on Instagram, 1.5 million followers on TikTok, 891.7K followers on Twitter and 336k subscribers on YouTube.

Awards and achievements

In her early golf career, Spiranac won five tournaments, including 2010 CWGA, Junior stroke play.

After the successful tournaments, Spiranac ranked among the top 20 junior players of the world. She also received golf scholarship from the University of Arizona post feat.

In her college years, she won All Mountain West Conference honors in two consecutive seasons -- 2012-13 and 2013-14.

In 2015, Spiranac got into professional golfing and led Aztecs in their first Mountain West Championship.

In 2016, she went to Dubai to participate in the LPGA tournament. She, however, missed the mark and decided to retire from golf.

In 2020, she bagged ‘The PWI Most Beautiful Woman in the World’ award.

In 2022, the most followed female golf influencer also received ’World's Sexiest Woman’ award from Maxim magazine.

Cover feature and debut film

Spiranac has featured on the cover pages of the Sports Illustrated (SI) Swimsuit edition and Golf Digest. She also debuted in some films, including  Risky Biz (2018), Fitted (2017), and Breaking Par (2016).

Dating life and Marital status

As of 2023, Spiranac is not dating anyone. Many of her fans wouldn’t know but Spiranac was once married. She met her ex-husband Steve Tinoco, a professional sports trainer while she was playing in a Junior golf tournament. In 2016, the duo got engaged, and subsequently tied the knot in 2018.

Tinoco was a “supportive husband” and the duo had a quiet marriage for four years. She revealed about their wedding to her fans in 2022 only after getting divorced. The reason for calling it quits still remains unclear. In an interview, the influencer claimed that due to the "traumatic experience" of divorce she doesn’t want to be married again. But later on, she changed her mind and said she is willing to learn from her mistakes and might get remarried as she still believes in love. “I’d be much smarter about it this time and not rush the process”, she said.

As per reports, Spiranac dated another man before Tinoco, but his name hasn’t been revealed. Spiranac, in fact, accused her ex boyfriend of leaking her private photos online, post which they parted ways.

Controversies

2021 US Women's Open

Some onlookers at the 2021 US Women's Open observed that Spiranac had not put anything to support or advertise the tournament. Spiranac was quick to respond to the claims.  She said that certain Tour players had asked her not to discuss them or their competitions. They apparently asserted that Spiranac is a poor representation of women's golf.

Private photo leak

On her 'Ex-Posed' podcasts called 'Playing-A-Round', Spiranac shared that her ex-boyfriend (whose name wasn’t revealed) leaked her private photos online. She claimed she was “blackmailed” for some years after the incident. “I went back and forth on which picture to post for this because well this was a really hard episode for me to talk about. It’s all about my nude picture that has been shared around and is on the internet", she said during the podcast. “I decided to pick this picture because I think people see how I am online with this sexy, fun image that I portray and would assume a nude picture to me is nothing. But there’s a distinct difference, one picture I posted, the other I didn’t give consent to be shared," she added. After hearing Spiranac struggle with the unfortunate incident, her fans and followers extended support to the influencer.

Lesser Known facts

Spiranac was a gymnast who wanted to compete in the Olympics, but had to quick due to fractured knee cap.

She was bullied in her childhood and her classmates used to make fun of her.

As a child, she had a bad asthma and a condition where her hair would fall out.

Spiranac suffered from anxiety issues and later on even developed an eating disorder.

She is the brand ambassador of Cybersmile, a non-profit organization, which helps youth to cope with cyberbullying.

Being a golf player, Spiranac is susceptible to low-back pain, due to constant swinging.

In 2019, her father went to prison for 30 days for securities fraud.

Spiranac loves pizza with pepperoni, ice cream, and tea.