"Crying is such a cop out" - Fans call out Paige Spiranac for 'cheating' at the Internet Invitational

Fans recently called out Paige Spiranac for 'cheating' at the Internet Invitational, a six-episode series that pits 48 golfers in 24 groups. After the latest episode of the Internet Invitational aired, a rule discrepancy caught the fans' attention.

A video was shared by Barstool Sports' X handle showing Paige Spiranac going ahead of the ball and pressing the long grass in front to help the game. When Spiranac was confronted about it, she claimed that she didn't know it was a rule infringement and started wailing.

As this video came up on social media, a fan said that crying was an excuse to evade cheating.

Another wrote:

A netizen called out Spiranac for cheating:

“Imagine chirping someone for not playing professional golf and then blatantly cheating.”

Another netizen wrote:

“When cheaters take Luke kwan off the hook.”

A fan claimed that Paige's actions violated the rules.

“Clear cheating violations from paige and Mo.”

Before the Internet Invitational, Paige Spiranac played in the Creator Classic, a three-part series. She was an on-course analyst at the first and third Creator Classic of the 2025 season and played the second.

Paige Spiranac breaks down after netizens' hate comments

Paige Spiranac has faced several backlash campaigns over her unconventional attires. Recently, as the former professional golfer appeared at the Internet Invitational, a fan wrote hate comments about her on an online platform.

The fan used curse words against Spiranac and called her out, saying she thought she was better than others at the Internet Invitational. Later, Spiranac took to Instagram and shared her response to the hate comment.

She explained how she made herself famous on social media through hard work and that it wasn't a cakewalk for her. She also added that an invite to the Internet Invitational made her excited and feel like she fit in the industry. She said:

“First off, thank you so much for all of the very kind messages, it truly means a lot to me. I don't normally do this, but this hate for some reason just been really hitting home for me. I've struggled socially my entire life. I've struggled in big groups of people, making friends, keeping friends, relating to other people. Reading social cues, saying the right thing at the right time, it's just been really hard for me my entire life…Like it's just hard for me in big groups of people.”

“So at the invitation, I was really excited because I felt like I could like fit in in the industry. And like, be there for my team and show up and I was making spreadsheets and I was doing all of this stuff and I was really excited about it. And even when I was there, I was excited about because I felt like I was really like, there for my team. And so it's just been really hard to like, see this reaction to being so unliked and hated,” she added.

Paige Spiranac played professional golf in the Cactus Tour in 2016. In the same year, she failed to qualify for the LPGA Tour and left professional golf to take up social media influencing as a full-time career. Currently, she has 4 million followers on Instagram.

Edited by Riddhiman Sarkar