“It's easy to get swayed by advertisements or the latest new gear, but what you t…” — Paige Spiranac

Turns out, the enjoyment I receive from growing the game through content creation and collaborations, and the work I do with the Cybersmile Foundation around cyberbullying, is leaps and bounds above what I got out of playing competitively.

It wasn't until last year that I figured out the problem: I just don't love competitive golf. What I love is the game itself. I love being outdoors, practicing, and smelling the freshly cut grass at 6:00 a.m. as the sun rises. But I didn't love travel, or pressure, or the mean-spiritedness of my competitors.

I started playing golf after a broken knee led me to quit my career as an elite gymnast. It wasn't long before I became one of the world's top-ranked amateur players.

I'm not ashamed of my social media following, my Sports Illustrated swimsuit shoot, or the tough time I had in my LPGA debut, but these small facets of my life are easily manipulated by the Internet to get views, and they don't define me as a person.