‘Kai, she’s not big yet but she will be. She’ll be the biggest name.’ That was the declaration of a young girl tracking the movements of the First Granddaughter on the practice putting green at Pelican Golf Club.
Arguably, on Thursday, that young golf fan’s prediction had already come true. Kai Trump was the most famous name among the 108 contestants on Thursday. She was also the last.
Kai was undoubtedly the headliner of the LPGA’s penultimate event of the season. The 18-year-old, still a senior in high school, was handed one of three sponsor exemptions to compete in The ANNIKA, a $3.25 million tournament on the world’s top women’s tour.
Around 200 spectators crammed around the 10th tee box to watch the eldest Trump grandchild begin her LPGA debut. They jostled with secret service agents, armed themselves with their mobile phones and clutched to tournament flags they hoped would bear Kai’s signature.
But by the time the aspiring golfer strolled off the green of her fourth hole, that number had dwindled to 50. By then, most had realized she was out of her depth.
Kai had already fallen to four-over through the first four holes. By the end of play that number had slumped to 13-over and Kai to the bottom of the leaderboard.
24 hours earlier, WNBA star Caitlin Clark and her Indiana Fever teammates Sophie Cunningham and Lexie Hull had whipped the typically serene setting into a frenzy with their mere presence on the fairways.
On Thursday, the same had been expected for Kai. Tournament organizers had made no attempt to veil the fact that the teenager, her polarizing surname, her millions of social media followers and the extra eyeballs they would inevitably attract to Belleair, Florida was a principal motive behind extending the exemption invitation to her.
And standing behind Kai as she nervelessly began her controversial LPGA debut, it initially appeared to be a gamble that paid off.
With hundreds of eyes on her – and thousands more on the broadcast – Kai was nothing but poised as she addressed her tee shot and piped her opening drive down the fairway.
Among the hoard kept at bay by the eight Secret Service agents and the smattering of ‘TRUMP’ emblazoned caps, there was a gaggle of young, and more importantly female, golf fans watching on in awe.
They hadn’t chased after the defending champion, World No 2 Nelly Korda, who was two groups ahead. No, there was no doubt that Kai was the main attraction.
The LPGA just would have expected and hoped that they would have stayed longer. For, as Kai’s score dropped, so too did the spectators.
But Kai’s performance could be excused. The youngest member of the field, a mere high school student no less, bore the greatest pressure.
Even she admitted that her nerves rivaled those from her speech at the 2024 Republican National Convention.
‘I was definitely more nervous than I expected, but I thought I hit a lot of great shots out there,’ Kai admitted following the round. ‘I hit a lot of good shots just to the wrong spots. And obviously being my first LPGA event, now I kind of know how it goes. I felt like a little out of order in the beginning but I kind of got it going afterwards.’
Annika Sorenstam, the golf legend whom the event is named for, played with Kai in a practice round earlier in the week. The tournament host had predicted that driving wouldn’t be an issue for Kai, who she declared could hit it high and long.
The problem, Sorenstam ruled, would come around the greens. And that theory proved to be correct on Thursday.
Kai, playing with Germany’s Olivia Cowan and major champion Hinako Shibuno, had no trouble keeping up with the professionals off the tee. As Sorenstam hazarded, Kai struck it as far as her playing partners, safely finding eight of 14 fairways.
‘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. It was cool to see that.’
The same couldn’t be said for the greens. Kai managed to land her ball on the putting surface just seven times in regulation. And that proved to be her Achilles’ heel.
But the youngster, followed throughout the round by her mother Vanessa Trump, clung on. Gallantly so.
Kai tackled the golf course with a confidence so distinctly inherited from her presidential grandfather. No matter the state of her scorecard, she kept her head up, a smile on her face.
‘I’m very proud of my daughter. She played very well and we’re looking forward to tomorrow,’ Vanessa, who is in a relationship with Tiger Woods, said following the round.
After seven holes of wrestling with the sloping greens and fringes of Pelican, Kai’s first true par test came in 10-foot putt at the 17th. She missed it, but what came next was arguably her best shot of the day.
After a lengthy wait for the green to clear at 18, Kai fired in a rocket over the water, walking off one of the trickiest challenges on the course with a par.
‘After I hit my shot into 18,’ Kai responded when asked when her nerves had finally settled. ‘That was honestly the hole I was worried most about and par’d that and I felt like, all right, now we got that out of the way; let’s keep moving on.
‘The whole time I was nervous without a doubt. I thought I did pretty good for just first time, being the youngest player in the field. I had a great time out there.’
She finished with nine bogeys and two double bogeys. Kai had to endure four bogeys before finally making the first of her seven pars.
Yes, bogeys were the order of the day, but it was far from the implosion of the Junior Invitational in spring.
At the prestigious junior golf tournament – Kai’s previous biggest tournament – she had endured a nightmare at Sage Valley in South Carolina. She finished 52-over for the four rounds, 22 strokes from her closest competitor.
In comparison, aside from two double bogeys, Kai’s golf during Thursday’s opening round was steady. It was bogey golf, but it was steady. And that alone should be considered an impressive feat for any teenager, never mind the USA’s 461st-ranked junior in a professional tournament.
As Kai herself reiterated as she stepped off the course, she is the youngest member of the field – and, as a result, the least experienced.
Yet, the reality is Kai now finds herself in a familiar position; Rock-bottom of the leaderboard; four shots off second-from-last; 18 shots off leader Haeran Ryu.
‘I don’t think anybody here is thinking that she will be the one holding the trophy on Sunday. It’s about opportunities and memories and lessons learned,’ Sorenstam declared earlier in the week.
By the end of Thursday’s play, not even those who believe in the most divine of miracles could now envision Kai making the cut on Friday, let alone hoisting the trophy on Sunday.
