It started with a simple tournament pairing.
In 2015, Tisha Alyn stepped onto the course for her professional debut at the Arizona Women’s Open, part of the Cactus Tour. For all three rounds she was paired with someone she already knew from junior golf: Paige Spiranac.
At the time, both players were chasing traditional professional careers. But looking back now, Alyn believes she was witnessing something different taking shape in the sport.
She shared the memory during an appearance on The Big Swing, the podcast hosted by veteran sports journalist Jimmy Roberts.
Alyn recalled that Spiranac was already attracting attention online. Social media was beginning to influence sports culture, though within golf it still felt unfamiliar and even controversial.
During those rounds in Arizona, Alyn sensed the pressure surrounding Spiranac. The growing attention also brought criticism, something that seemed to affect the atmosphere around her playing partner.
At the time, very few golfers were building careers around social media.
A glimpse of golf’s digital future
What seemed unusual then now looks almost inevitable. In the mid-2010s, golfers rarely focused on building personal brands online. Most players relied on tournament results, sponsorships, and traditional sports media to grow their careers.
Spiranac approached things differently. She shared golf instruction, lifestyle posts, and moments from everyday life around the sport. The content connected with fans who might not normally watch competitive golf.
The strategy eventually turned her into one of the most recognizable personalities in the sport. According to Forbes, Spiranac later became one of the most followed figures in golf online, building an audience that numbers in the millions.
For Alyn, seeing that early stage up close changed how she viewed the possibilities within the sport.
During the podcast conversation, she explained that Spiranac encouraged her to post more content and show more of her personality.
People can say what they want about her, but she created a roadmap that you can make a career out of
That encouragement pushed Alyn to experiment with her own online content.
Some of her videos eventually gained traction and began circulating widely, helping her develop her own audience in the emerging world of golf creators.
The difficult transition behind Paige Spiranac’s rise
Spiranac’s path into digital influence was not easy. Her original dream was to succeed as a competitive professional golfer. Letting go of that goal meant accepting that her playing career was not unfolding the way she had once imagined.
She has spoken openly about the emotional toll of that decision. In past interviews and public comments, Spiranac described feeling uncertainty and anxiety about leaving the traditional professional path.
Family support helped her navigate the transition. Spiranac has often credited her mother, Annette Spiranac, with helping produce much of her early content. Many of the photos that helped establish her online presence were taken by her mother during that period.
What began as an uncertain experiment gradually turned into a sustainable career.
Today Spiranac remains one of the most recognizable personalities in golf media and digital sports culture.
Golf’s media landscape has changed since 2015
The sport looks very different today than it did during that 2015 Arizona Women’s Open.
Digital creators now occupy a visible space within golf culture. Instructional channels, lifestyle content, and behind-the-scenes storytelling have expanded the sport’s reach beyond television broadcasts.
Organizations such as the PGA Tour have increasingly embraced digital content and online storytelling as part of their broader engagement strategy.
The idea that a golfer could build a career through social media is no longer unusual.
Creators like Tisha Alyn now operate in a growing ecosystem where personality, storytelling, and competition can coexist within the same career.
For Alyn, the realization traces back to those three rounds in Arizona.
Watching Paige Spiranac navigate attention, criticism, and opportunity showed that the future of golf might look different from what many players expected.
Nearly a decade later, that shift continues to shape how a new generation approaches the game.
Information in this article is based on statements made by Tisha Alyn during an episode of The Big Swing podcast hosted by Jimmy Roberts, along with publicly available interviews and commentary from Paige Spiranac. Context regarding the growth of golf influencers and digital sports media is supported by industry reporting from outlets including Forbes.
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