Former pro golfer Paige Spiranac has slammed what she says is rampant “stuffiness” in the sport, claiming she's been shunned “because of her cleavage” and shamed as “a sl*t.”
Spiranac, 26, emerged as a college golf star while at university in Arizona and San Diego, before briefly playing professionally on the women’s Cactus Tour in 2015-16.
However, the budding blonde star decided to leave the professional ranks as her social media popularity soared, also featuring in magazines such as the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition.
Spiranac currently boasts 2.2 million Instagram followers, and keeps fans abreast of her latest promotional events as well as tips to improve their swing.
But while the Colorado-born bombshell maintains a clear love of the sport which has catapulted her to fame, she has also slammed the snobbishness she says is inherent in it.
“Golf is elitist, it’s stuffy, it’s exclusive and I hate that because I am not that and I was never welcomed in and I’m still not welcomed in,” Spiranac said on her Playing-A-Round podcast, news.com.au reported.
“Golf is the absolute worst place for me to be because I am the exact opposite of everything that a golfer should encompass, should be, and I’m not.
“I’m not refined, I’m raw and real and I wear what I want and I have always been so different and golf is not that way,” she added.
The eye-catching swinger revealed that she often felt like “an outcast” because of her golfing attire – which often consists of low-cut tops.
“They call it a gentleman’s game but those guys definitely don’t act like gentlemen a lot of the time," she scorned.
“There’s just so much hypocrisy in golf and it’s so frustrating for me.
“It’s this big boys club where if someone does something they’ll cover that up … but I wear a tank top and I’m the sl*t and I’m the wh*re and I’m the one that’s ruining the game.
“I’m not going to feel like I fit in when everything that I do, I’m an outcast.”
Despite featuring in respected publications such as Golf Digest, Spiranac said she had often felt shunned by the golfing fraternity, even when trying to do good through charity events.
“I wanted to help this charity out and I wanted to give them free golf clubs,” she recalled.
“The guy wrote back and said, ‘We would love to but, because of the way our board members view you, you can’t help out’.
“I want to give back to these kids who don’t have anything, because I grew up not having anything, and I can’t even f*cking do that because of my cleavage.”
Spiranac called out golfing bosses for what she sees as undue fussiness over dress codes, claiming that if the likes of Tiger Woods or Rory McIlroy appeared in shorts, no one would bat an eyelid
“I don’t understand why it matters if you’re wearing a polo (shirt) and I’m not wearing a polo.
“If a guy on tour wears shorts instead of pants, the world’s not going to end. In golf, people make all of these problems so serious and it’s not serious,” she fumed.
Professional golf's loss is social media's gain, however, as Spiranac ensures fans still get treated to her every swing and stroke.