DEI KAI

Kai Trump Bombs Into Last Place in Nightmare Pro Golf Debut

The president’s granddaughter got into the tournament on a sponsor’s invite, and lived down to expectations.

Kai Trump’s much-hyped leap into professional golf landed with a thud, as President Donald Trump’s granddaughter opened her LPGA Tour debut with a bruising dead-last finish in the 108-player field.

Playing at the Annika at Pelican Golf Club in Tampa, Florida, the 18-year-old high school senior unraveled early, bogeying her first four holes and never recovering. She walked off with nine bogeys, two double bogeys, and not a single birdie, completing the par-70 course in 83 to end the first round 19 shots off the pace.

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“I was definitely more nervous than I expected, but I thought I hit a lot of great shots out there,” she said afterward, remaining positive. “I hit a lot of good shots, just to the wrong spots.”

Trump didn’t earn her way into the tournament. She was handed a sponsor exemption from Pelican Golf Club—this is a discretionary invite that bypasses the usual competitive qualifying. Dan Doyle, the owner of Pelican Golf Club, exercised the exemption himself, saying Trump’s social media reach would “bring a lot of viewers” and juice attention for the event.

He wasn’t wrong. Thanks to her family ties, the ever-confident teen has millions of followers on social media and, according to the Wall Street Journal, “might already be the most famous women’s golfer on the planet.” 

Trump’s nerves were predictable. The galleries were unusually thick for an LPGA Thursday, swollen further by Secret Service agents. And she arrived knowing critics questioned why the 461st-ranked junior golfer in the United States was teeing it up alongside the best players in the world.

“It was pretty cool because I know I hit it far, but kind of playing with the best players in the world and being literally right there or even outdriving on some of the holes, it felt pretty good,” she said. “Felt like my game is in a good spot, and especially only being a senior in high school.”

Her résumé entering the week did little to quiet skeptics. Trump isn’t even ranked in the top 450 juniors. In her biggest previous event—the Sage Valley Junior in March—she finished 52-over across four rounds, 22 strokes ahead of only one other competitor. Her handicap, +0.5, is elite for a club golfer but miles from professional standard. Oddsmakers put her at 5,000-to-1 to win the Tampa event.

However, the Swedish golf legend whom the tournament is named after said the outing was always designed to be a learning curve, not a romp to victory. “I don’t think anybody here is thinking that she will be the one holding the trophy on Sunday,” Annika Sorenstam said. “But this is about opportunities and memories and lessons learned.”

“I just want to give her a break, come out here and have fun. We want her to feel like family here and to feel welcome. I mean, give this girl a chance, right?”

What Kai does have is pedigree. Trump picked up the game at age 5, growing up around the family’s sprawling golf empire. Her grandfather began collecting courses in 1999, eventually adding Turnberry, Doonbeg, and Doral. She is the eldest daughter of Donald Trump Jr., himself a devoted golfer, and spent her childhood at Trump National and Trump International in Jupiter and West Palm Beach. She won the Ladies’ Club Championships at Trump International in 2022 and 2024.

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Her mother, Vanessa Trump, is also dating golf legend Tiger Woods. “He told me to go out there and have fun and just go with the flow,” the teen told reporters on Wednesday. “Whatever happens, happens.”

She’s also become something of a presence around the sport, playing in a PGA Tour pro-am earlier this year and tagging along with her grandfather at the Ryder Cup, where a blog about the trip drew more than three million views.

Trump will be dumped out of the four-day event if she doesn’t make the cut on Friday. She is currently 12 shots off the cut line.

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