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.
The 18-year-old amateur, invited to the £2.5million 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.
Two double bogeys and nine bogeys told the story of a day in which early nerves never fully released their grip.
She ended the round four shots adrift of the next player above her, a stark reminder of the gulf between elite junior golf and the professional game she hopes one day to join.
Her reception had been warm. Spectators applauded as she began her round on the back nine at Pelican Golf Club, but her first steps on the LPGA stage were unsettled.
By her own account she struggled to control the adrenaline that coursed through the opening holes.
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
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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 afterwards. “I hit a lot of good shots just to the wrong spots.”
Trump admitted that the occasion momentarily 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.
Five quirky facts about golf
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Despite the scoreline she was determined to take encouragement from the experience.
“It was amazing,” said the teenager. “I had a great time out there. I did not play the way I wanted obviously, but for my first event ever I think I played pretty good.”
With more than six million followers on social media, Trump is already a prominent figure away from the course.
Yet she suggested that nothing in her public life had 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 said, referring to her high profile speech at the Republican National Convention.
“I thought I went in the bunker but I hit way past the bunker. I think it was the adrenaline the whole time.
Kai Trump is maintaining a positive approach despite her difficult debut
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“I was hitting it way farther than I normally do, especially around some of the par threes.
“Compared to the RNC, I would say the first two shots were more nerve wracking.”
At the other end of the leaderboard, South Korea’s Haeran Ryu set the early pace with a composed round of six under par.
That left Trump 19 shots behind the leader, a margin that underlined both the scale of the challenge and the promise of what she may yet learn from it.
