Kai Trump, a high school senior playing on the LPGA Tour for reasons beyond her ability to hit a golf ball, went from “definitely very nervous” in the first round on Thursday to “very calm and peaceful” on Friday in the second.
Overall an impressive improvement.
However, the 18-year-old Trump missed the cut after finishing last among 108 players with a two-round total of 18-over-par, 27 shots behind leader Grace Kim and 17 shots off the projected cut line. President Trump's granddaughter improved from eight to 75 in the second round of the tournament hosted by Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam at Pelican Golf Club in Bellaire, Florida.
How dramatic was the update? On Thursday, Trump had nine bogeys, two doubles and one birdie. A day later, she briefly found herself under par when she birdied the par-three third hole, but she bogeyed the fourth hole and triple-bogeyed the par-four fifth hole.
Trump bogeyed three of her next six holes. How relaxed was she? She literally laughed at her triple ghost.
“Things will happen,” she said. “Once it happens, you can't go back in time and fix it. The best thing I can do is move on. Like, I told my caddy Allan [Kournikova]kind of just started laughing, “It is what it is.”
“We figured it out, so let's just move on. After that, it was pretty easy to move on.”
Especially on the par-three 12th, where she nearly made the first birdie of her life.
“I went into this as a tight little draw,” Trump said. “Trying not to get too high because of the wind. Yeah, it was a great shot.”
What will she tell grandpa about the tour? “That I hit a great shot on 12 two days in a row.”
“I did everything I could for this tournament, so I think if you prepare properly, the nerves… they will always be there, right?” – she said. “They could be toned down a little bit. So I would just say that.”
Critics among and beyond her nearly 9 million social media followers have tirelessly noted her obvious privilege receiving a sponsor's invitation. Dan Doyle Jr., owner of Pelican Golf Club, happily conceded that Trump's inclusion had little to do with ability and everything to do with public relations.
“The idea of the release, when you go into the history of the exceptions, is to draw attention to the event,” Doyle told reporters this week. “You should see her in person, she’s a pleasure to talk to.
“And it brought in a lot of viewers through Instagram and things like that that don't typically watch women's golf. That was the hope. And we're seeing that now.”
Trump attends Benjamin School in Palm Beach and will attend the University of Miami next year. She is ranked No. 461 in the American Junior Golf Association rankings.
Walking up to the LPGA surrounded by a large gallery of onlookers and a phalanx of Secret Service agents surrounding her could be intimidating. Trump, however, said the experience was “pretty cool.”
It's been a busy week for Trump. On Monday, she played nine holes of the pro round with tournament host Sorenstam, who sympathized with the difficulty of navigating the intense whirlpool of criticism and support.
“Honestly, I just don’t know how she does it,” Sorenstam said. “For her to be 18 and hear all the comments, she must be very tough inside. I'm sure we can all imagine what it's like to get criticism here and there, but she gets it a thousand times over.”
Sorenstam recalled her own tax exemption for Bank of America Colonial in 2003, when she became first woman to play in a men's PGA Tour event. at 58 years old. She made a 14-foot putt on the 18th green, giving her a 36-hole total of five out of 145. She slammed the golf ball into the stands, wiped away tears and was hugged by her husband, David Ash.
“It was perhaps a somewhat controversial invitation at the time,” Sorenstam said. “At the end of the day, I certainly appreciated it. It just brings attention to the tournament and the sport and women's sports, which is what I think we want.”
