Kai Trump faces challenging LPGA debut
Donald Trump’s passion for golf will have offered little comfort on Thursday as he watched his granddaughter Kai endure a bruising initiation on the LPGA Tour, reports BritPanorama.
The 18-year-old amateur, invited to the £2.5 million Annika event through a sponsor’s exemption, finished her opening round at the foot of the leaderboard after a difficult debut in Florida. Competing against some fierce opposition, Trump carded an 83 that left her 13 over par, with two double bogeys and nine bogeys highlighting her struggle throughout the day.
She concluded the round four shots adrift of the next player above her, illuminating the significant gap between elite junior golf and the professional game she aspires to. Despite a warm reception from spectators as she began her round on the back nine at Pelican Golf Club, Trump’s first steps on the LPGA stage were fraught with nerves. By her own account, she struggled to control the adrenaline coursing through her during the opening holes.
“I was definitely more nervous than I expected, but I thought I hit a lot of great shots out there,” she said afterwards, acknowledging that the occasion temporarily overwhelmed her. “Being my first LPGA event, now I kind of know how it goes. I felt a little out of order in the beginning but I kind of got it going afterwards. I learned a lot,” she added.
Despite the score, Trump remains determined to stay positive, describing the experience as “amazing.” With more than six million followers on social media, she is already a prominent figure outside the course, yet she indicated that nothing in her public life fully prepared her for the anxiety of stepping onto the first tee of a professional tournament. “The first tee I was a little bit more nervous than the RNC,” she reflected, referring to her high-profile speech at the Republican National Convention, as she described her surprise at the intensity of competition that lay ahead.
At the tournament’s other end, South Korea’s Haeran Ryu set an impressive early pace with a composed round of six under par. This left Trump 19 shots behind the leader, underscoring the scale of the challenge she faces and the potential lessons she could glean moving forward.
In a sport where the margins can be thin yet the differences vast, Kai Trump’s debut is a testament to both the depth of talent in women’s golf and the harsh realities newcomers often face when stepping into the professional arena.
