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

The Internet Invitational put Paige Spiranac in a bad light, and she said she’s received a lot of hate in the aftermath.

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

Spiranac’s team lost the $1 million prize on the 18th hole of the final match, and many viewers considered it karma after both Spiranac and Togisala were embroiled in cheating scandals. Caught on film improving a lie in the final match, Spiranac claimed she thought it was allowed and then began to cry. Later, Togisala was speculated to have used the slope on his rangefinder – rangefinders were allowed, but use of the slope was not.

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Spiranac, who was tested early in the championship by calling out Ellis for not playing “competitive golf” sooner, said she has received “tens of thousands of death threats” since the championship match was posted on YouTube during an “interesting week”.

“The last week and a half is probably the worst hate I’ve ever received in the 10 years I’ve been doing this,” Spiranac said on his Instagram Story. “I’m talking tens of thousands of death threats, people telling me to kill myself, the most disgusting, horrible things you could ever say to someone who has been in my DMs to the point where we discussed potentially getting 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 game 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 on August 28, 2025 in New York City. (Anna Webber/Getty Images for Maestro Dobel Tequila)

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“I know people wonder why I haven’t written anything or why I haven’t talked about it. I just needed to remove myself for my mental health,” she said.

“One thing that I really struggle with is wanting to be liked and accepted, and I don’t want anyone to ever like me, and I always try to do everything I can to have people like me. And then it’s just hard for me as a person with how I process things, and obviously it hasn’t been easy either. But luckily, having a good support system, to keep distracting the family and just trying.”

Spiranac again claimed that she does not know the rules about improving lies and said that she would never cheat on purpose.

“I’m painfully, painfully embarrassed that I didn’t know this rule…” she said in an Instagram story, hinting at the karma that befell her for her comments to Ellis. “I would never intentionally cheat. In all my years of playing golf, I’ve never been accused of cheating. There were so many cameras on me that to openly cheat with so many people around, so many cameras around, would be insane. So I made a mistake, I learned now that it was a violation and I will never do it again.”

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

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

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