Golf influencer Paige Spiranac burst into tears after being accused of cheating at the Internet Invitational tournament.
Spiranac was competing in the golf event that is headed up by Dave Portnoy’s Barstool Sports and Bob Does Sports.
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Spiranac was accused of flattening the long grass around this shotCredit: @BarstoolSports / X
The 48-player tournament took place with $1million on the line, with things eventually coming to a dramatic end.
Two teams remained in the alternate-shot event, with Spiranac involved, and she was accused of cheating in the final stages.
The American, who has over 11 million followers on social media, was accused of improving the lie of teammate Malosi Togisala’s shot.
She appeared to push the long grass down around the golf ball, with footage shown of her leaning down towards it.
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Togisala then went on to hit a brilliant shot from the rough – but not without others noticing the potential cheating.
Portnoy asked: “Did Paige put that on a tee for you?”
Fellow influencer golfer, Peter Finch, also raised a concern, saying: “That lie in the rough though…Paige has gone ahead of the ball and pressed down all the long grass in front.
“There’s no way he could have hit that shot without that.”
Spiranac’s team went on to lose the hole where the incident occurred, with players labelling it as a ‘non-issue’.
However, rumblings of the cheating accusation continued and eventually, she was confronted about it.
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Footage showed Spiranac walking to flatten the grass down around the ballCredit: @BarstoolSports / X
And when Spiranac was made aware that what she did to potentially cheat, she quickly became emotional.
When the incident was first mentioned, the former professional said: “I thought we could do that…I didn’t realise that you couldn’t do that.
“I didn’t think I improved the lie. I didn’t move the ball.”
She then added: “I wasn’t trying to cheat, like I would never do that.”
Spiranac was then brought to tears as she protested her innocence, before walking away from the other players off the green.
Play later continued and no further footage was shown of the fallout from the cheating accusations.
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Spiranac started crying as she protested her innocent in the controversyCredit: @BarstoolSports / X
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The American proceeded to walk off the green as she failed to hide her sadnessCredit: @BarstoolSports / XWho won the Internet Invitational?
Spiranac’s team went on to lose in the final showdown of the Internet Invitational, just missing out on the monster prize.
It was a team consisting of Brad Dalke, Francis Ellis and Cody ‘Beef’ Franke, who came away with $1m.
Franke celebrated with his teammates after winning the event, which was filmed before his shock passing.
‘Beef’, who was a much-loved member of Barstool Spots, suddenly died in October aged 31.
Portnoy led tributes to his friend and colleague at the time.
Spiranac also reacted to the terrible news last month, writing: “Heartbreaking news. He was such a kind and good person.”