Golf influencer Paige Spiranac has spoken candidly about the impact golf has had on her mental health, describing the psychological demands of the sport as overwhelming and ongoing.
During a February 10, 2026 Q&A session on Instagram, the 32-year-old addressed a fan question about handling the mental side of the game. Her response reflected years of personal struggle.
“The mental side of golf truly ate me alive”
“I’ve seen so many sports psychologists, and the mental side of golf just truly ate me alive, and I’ve tried everything,” Spiranac said.
“So I recommend just finding what works best for you. There are books out there, there are so many different philosophies, there’s not one size that fits all.”
Spiranac, who has more than four million followers on Instagram, has previously shared that she has battled anxiety since childhood. In her latest remarks, she encouraged those facing serious mental health challenges to seek professional help, including sports psychologists.
She explained that talk therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy helped her identify underlying causes of her struggles. However, she emphasized that different approaches work for different people.
Earlier this year, in a Q&A on YouTube, Spiranac described experiencing unexpected emotional reactions, including tears triggered by everyday moments. She said she later underwent biofeedback sessions, where she learned that her brain activity became confused during periods of stress or heightened emotion.
“Golf has completely consumed me,” she has said previously when discussing the toll the sport took on her mental state.
Public perception and stepping back
Spiranac has also addressed the gap between her public persona and how she views herself privately. In a late January 2026 Q&A on YouTube, saying: “This person that people assume me to be feels so vastly different from who I actually am as a person.”
The former NCAA Division I athlete acknowledged feeling compelled to defend herself online.
“I have this deep burning desire to defend my character and overexplain things,” she said.
“And what happens is that then people say, ‘Oh, you’re just playing the victim again.’ And so when they say that, I then defend myself again, and before you know it, it’s just this vicious cycle.”
Reflecting on that pattern, Spiranac said she ultimately decided to step back.
“I just finally learned this lesson, and I put my foot down. And I said, I am just done doing this,” she said. “The people who dislike me will always dislike me. They will always think that I am that person, no matter what.”
At the end of 2025, the 32-year-old even revealed she had received death threats after controversy at The Internet Invitational tournament, in which she was accused of cheating.
“The last week and a half has been probably the worst hate I’ve ever received in the 10 years of me doing this,” Spiranac explained. “I’m talking tens of thousands of death threats, people telling me to kill myself, the most vile, horrendous stuff you could ever say to an individual.”
Read the full article here
