The 24-year-old American confirmed the news, first revealed by Golf Digest Middle East last month, in this short video overnight.

Spiranac’s appointment is another shrewd promotional curve-ball from Tournament Director David Spencer, designed to keep the Desert Classic front an centre as one of the European Tour’s preeminent events. Reigning U.S. Masters champion Sergio Garcia, who has just announced new bride Angela Adkins is expecting the couple’s first child in March, is already confirmed to defend the famed dallah (Arabic Coffee Pot) on the Majlis while Golf Digest Middle East exclusively revealed PGA Tour cult hero Pat Perez is set to headline the $3million event.

Related: Pat Perez set to bring his brand of PGA Tour pizzazz to 2018 Omega Dubai Desert Classic

Spiranac made her professional debut, and created a global media storm, at the 2015 Dubai Ladies Masters courtesy of a controversial sponsors’ invite.

When the Instagram superstar returned to Dubai last December, she tearfully admitted to an on-going struggle with depression and anxiety due to cyber bullying in the wake of her rounds of 77-79 the previous year.

She had toyed with quitting the game after “the hardest experience of my life” but felt compelled to fight on and speak out given concerning teen suicide rates. “Hopefully I can save someone’s life, I think that’s so much more important than if I make the cut or miss the cut,” she said at the time.

Sadly, Spiranac continued to harassed by faceless trolls after carding rounds of 77 and 80 on the Majlis layout to finish 13 over par, nine shots shy of the cut which fell at +4, last year.

Spencer took plenty of heat when he first invited Spiranac to Dubai and expects fall-out from the lastest decision. But he remains unapologetic, insisting Spiranac had significantly raised the profile of the Dubai Ladies Masters and will do the same for the men’s event in her ambassadorial role.

He reveals why in this piece which appears as part of a special “9 for 9” feature in out 100th issue.

Read the story here: Paige Impressions

Meanwhile, ticket prices for the Desert Classic have been released. Daily tickets for the four-day main competition are priced at AED 175. A season pass, which provides access all week, is available for AED 500. Children aged 16 and under will be allowed free entry to the course if they are accompanied by an adult who is holding a valid ticket for the day.

The post On the tee… Paige Spiranac appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
Organisers hope Paige Spiranac will again lend her social media celebrity to December’s Omega Dubai Ladies Masters but admit “we may not put her through the trauma of playing” the season-ending Ladies European Tour [LET] event.

Tournament Director David Spencer has revealed the 24-year-old American is likely to be offered an ambassadorial role at the €515,000 tournament from December 6-9 after emotionally missing the cut at the LET event the past two seasons.

Spencer is also hopeful the aspiring professional golfer will consider returning to act as the official starter for the men at the European Tour’s Omega Dubai Desert Classic, also at Emirates Golf Club, in late January.

Enter the Golf Digest Amateur Series today! CLICK HERE for Abu Dhabi GC event this Thursday

Asked if Spiranac would again be invited to the Ladies Masters, Spencer told Golf Digest Middle East: “Maybe, but we may not put her through the trauma of [actually] playing.“

Related Video: Spiranac hopes to ‘save someone’s life’ by speaking out on cyber bullies

“We’re hoping to bring her to the ladies and the men’s [Desert Classic] and we’re actually considering asking her to be the starter at the men’s event, the official starter.”

Spiranac made her professional debut, and created a global media storm, at the 2015 Dubai Ladies Masters courtesy of a controversial sponsors’ invite.

When the Instagram superstar returned to Dubai last December, she tearfully admitted to an on-going struggle with depression and anxiety due to cyber bullying in the wake of her rounds of 77-79 the previous year.

She had toyed with quitting the game after “the hardest experience of my life” but felt compelled to fight on and speak out given concerning teen suicide rates. “Hopefully I can save someone’s life, I think that’s so much more important than if I make the cut or miss the cut,” she said at the time.

Video: Paige Spiranac’s Top 3 short game tips

Sadly, Spiranac continued to be targeted by faceless online trolls after carding rounds of 77 and 80 on the Majlis layout to finish 13 over par, nine shots shy of the cut which fell at +4, last year.

Spencer took plenty of heat when he first invited Spiranac to Dubai and expects fall-out from the lastest decision. But he remains unapologetic, insisting Spiranac had significantly raised the profile of the Dubai Ladies Masters and would continue to do so in an ambassadorial role.

“We took a lot of criticism for that [the 2015 sponsors’ invite] too but we are happy to stand by what we’ve been criticised for,” said Spencer, who also serves as a strategic adviser to Falcon Golf who now run both the Ladies Masters and Desert Classic.

“In my life I’ve been lucky enough to be in golf situations and see which golfers light up a room when they walk into it and I include in that [list] Seve, Arnold Palmer, Greg Norman and Tiger, of course.

“But the one I’d add to that is Paige, in that she has great presence, she’s an interesting character, she’s got lots of interesting [charity] causes. Apart from being physically beautiful, which she obviously is, she’s got a heart of gold and that comes across in corporate situations.“

David Cannon/Getty Images Spiranac during the second round of the 2015 Omega Dubai Ladies Masters.

Spencer admitted sponsors were initially reluctant for the tournament to be associated with Spiranac who profits from 1.2m followers on Instagram, and more than 235,000 and 162,000 followers on Facebook and Twitter respectively. But he said corporate backers had done a “complete 180 degree turn” and now, “I mean, they just love her.”

Related: Paige Spiranac and her crazy professional debut

“We think what may be happening is that people think this social media [strategy] is a sexist thing but I was so heartened at that public clinic [involving Spiranac] last year when we had all the young golfers there [watching],” Spencer said.

“There is obviously a connection to golf via social media and we’ve got to be competitive with other sports [and in the entertainment space]. It’s not easy to get sponsorship, whatever sport you have.”

Whatever transpires with Spiranac, four-time defending champion Shanshan Feng won’t return to defend her title due to a prior engagement back in China.

“Shanshan has requested a leave pass and [joked] it will give someone else a chance to win,’ Spencer said. “She said ‘I’ll win it again in 2018’.”

The post Paige Spiranac welcomed back to Dubai Ladies Masters but unlikely to be put through “trauma” of actually playing LET event appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The LPGA Tour hopeful, abused online after missing the cut in her pro debut in Dubai last year, again has the weekend off at the Ladies European Tour season-ender after carding rounds of 77-80 to finish 13 over par, nine shots shy of the cut which fell at +4.

The Scottsdale, Arizona 23-year-old, a magnet for the media all week, wasn’t in the mood to face the press after her eight over 80 Friday, instead giving her first reaction in reply to a fan on Twitter with: “Thank you for your support! It has been an emotional week for me but I know I’ll come out stronger.”

After later helping with a Pink Stars Clinic, Spiranac took to Instagram to share her feelings.

“My return to the @omegagolfdubai has been an incredible experience. I’m so grateful for the opportunities that golf has given me to make a difference in other people’s lives,” she started.

“I had so much fun working with these amazing kids at the clinic tonight showing them how much fun golf can be.

“I have also been incredibly touched with the outpouring of support and the stories you have all shared with me after I spoke about my experiences with bullying. This along with the tragic passing of [caddy] Max Zechmann has proven to me that there is more to life than the score you shoot.“

Spiranac was in good company in missing the cut, joined by World Golf Hall of Famer Dame Laura Davies who exited the tournament, shortened to 54-holes after the tragic death of Zechmann on Wednesday, after matching 75s left the four-time major champion two shots off the mark.

Californian Beth Allen, who had already sown up the LET’s order-of-merit title before landing in Dubai, teetered on the edge after spoiling an opening 71 with a second round 77. But she made the weekend on the number and will look to finish the season in style Saturday.

“I did feel some pressure because I didn’t want — like I wanted to win [the money title] properly. I know that Shanshan [Feng] hasn’t played in enough events [to qualify], but I wanted to make more money than her,” Allen said.

Three-time defending champion Feng, who is five shots off the Felicity Johnson’s lead, will need by far the biggest comeback in the tournament’s 11-year history if she is to win, the only way she can finish with more money than Allen even if unofficially.

The post Spiranac: “There is more to life than the score you shoot” appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Her resolve didn’t make it beyond her obligatory media conference on Monday morning let alone the first tee Wednesday but the tears she shared will have a far greater impact than any shot she hits in this week’s season-ending Ladies European Tour (LET) event. Perhaps any shot she ever hits again.

Golf’s undisputed social media queen broke down when she recalled the online abuse she encountered after her professional debut at last year’s Dubai Ladies Masters where she missed the cut and finished tied last on 15 over par.

The Scottsdale, Arizona 23-year-old admitted she had struggled with depression and anxiety as faceless online trolls went to work on her rounds of 77-79 on the Emirates Golf Club’s Majlis layout after she had been granted a sponsor’s invite.

Probed by Golf Digest Middle East for the extent of the cyber bullying that followed, Spiranac needed time to compose herself as she recalled how online abusers called her a “disgrace to golf” and even questioned her sexual habits.

“I think it’s really important…people need to see how much it actually does affect me, and the things they call me,” Spiranac started.

“I feel like I was raised right from my parents, and for them to attack my parents and attack what I’m doing, it’s really difficult. I struggled with a lot of depression after it, because as a 22-year-old, you feel like you’re not worth anything.

To have all these people say that I’m not a good golfer, I’m not a good person, you know, I’m promiscuous or make these judgments about me that are not true, it’s really hard, just because I like to wear Spandex on the golf course. – Paige Spiranac

Spiranac avoided social media for three weeks afterwards and even considered quitting the game as the “extremely cruel” abuse from “the hardest experience of my life” amplified.

She admitted it was difficult talking about the abuse even now but feels compelled to speak out with teenage suicide rates rising.

“And they think it’s because of cyber bullying. And so if I can share my story, and I’m okay with being emotional about it and I’m okay with kind of expressing what happened to me, because people don’t realise how hard it was on me…people saying the world is better off without me.

“Cyber bullying is a huge problem and no one ever discusses it. It’s no longer funny. It’s not the cool thing to do to make fun of other people, and you need to be supportive and I think that’s really important.”

SEE ALSO:
Spiranac eyes Omega Dubai Ladies Masters return
Paige Spiranac and her crazy professional debut

Spiranac credited tour LPGA Tour stars Natalie Gulbis and Christina Kim, the latter having courageously emerged from her own mental health issues, for reaching out during the darkest post Dubai days.

As well as switching swing coaches (Tyler Hall has worked on simplifying her swing and controlling her ball flight leading into this week), she also enlisted the guidance of a mental coach. Dr Nick Molinaro has enabled her to navigate the demons of Dubai and the inevitable pitfalls of being “liked” by in excess of one million followers across her Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.

The early signs are encouraging. Spiranac won her first professional title on the Cactus Tour in Phoenix earlier this year and was thrilled to make the weekend at the Ladies Scottish Open despite opening up with bogey, double bogey, par, bogey at Dundonald Links.

Still, she refuses to set goals beyond trying to enjoy herself in Dubai, raise awareness of cyber bullying and continuing to grow the game via her social media following.

“It doesn’t matter how I play this week, it really doesn’t. But the fact that I’m here and I’m sharing my story, hopefully can save someone’s life, I think that’s so much more important than if I make the cut or miss the cut,” she said.

The post VIDEO: Spiranac hopes to ‘save someone’s life’ by speaking out on cyber bullies appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.