Browsing: Kai

The former Dakota Kai is getting back into the ring.

Since her release from WWE back in May, Kai has been on a break from wrestling. That will be ending soon, though, with Pro Wrestling Eve announcing that Kai will be competing at its Wrestle Queendom VIII show on March 8, 2026. She is being billed as “Charlie” and is set to challenge AEW star Kris Statlander for the Eve International Championship.

Sunday 8th March 2026 | International Womenâ€s Day | Wrestle Queendom 8

Kris Statlander (c) Vs Charlie (fka Dakota Kai)
– EVE Imternation Championship

ðŸŽŸï¸ pic.twitter.com/SmQC5eVLAV

— Will Ospreay • ウィル・オスプレイ (@WillOspreay) December 5, 2025

Wrestle Kingdom VIII is happening on International Women’s Day in 2026. The show will be held in London, England at Indigo at The O2.

It remains to be seen if this will be Kai’s first match back or if she will be taking more bookings before then. During a stream on her “charliegirl” Twitch channel this September, Kai said she missed wrestling and would be returning after taking some time away.

“I miss wrestling, you guys. Weâ€re going to get back into it,†she said. “Itâ€s just one of those things where itâ€s been nice to have a little bit of a break. Iâ€ve been doing it for a long time, longer than the last seven years I was with WWE, you know what I mean? So it is nice to take a step back… but I really do miss it.â€

Along with streaming on Twitch, Kai co-hosts a podcast with WWE’s Zelina Vega.

Pro Wrestling Eve is a UK-based women’s wrestling promotion that has existed since 2010. Will Ospreay is involved with helping the promotion behind the scenes.

Wrestle Queendom is Eve’s biggest event. The name of the show is a takeoff of NJPW’s annual Wrestle Kingdom spectacular.

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Joseph Currier

Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.

In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated’s wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.

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Through the first five days, the LPGA’s week at the Annika achieved the short-term goal.

Buzz. Impressions. Chatter.

The week started with a relatively packed press conference for 18-year-old Kai Trump, the granddaughter of President Donald Trump, who was in the field thanks to a sponsor invite from the Doyle Family, who own Pelican Golf Club. There are two ways to view the Trump invite. She is the 461st-ranked junior golfer in the world and has never teed it up in a USGA event. Given the stakes of the penultimate event on the schedule, Trump is undeserving of a spot in the field. She has LPGA aspirations and will play collegiately at the University of Miami, but it was clear that this week would be a massive step up in competition for her — one that would almost certainly end in high scores and a missed cut. But the point of Trump’s invite was about a different number— her over 8 million social media followers. And if her brief stop at the Pelican delivered the type of attention that can help the LPGA break through to a different audience, isn’t that worth a swing?

2 ways to think about Kai Trump’s controversial LPGA invite

By:

Josh Schrock

Once Trump’s participation was announced, the Annika became the type of conversation-driving event the LPGA needs to figure out a way to recreate on a regular basis without a celebrity in the field. That was the idea.

WNBA star Caitlin Clark’s return appearance at Wednesday’s pro-am delivered even more eyeballs, both in person and on social media.

Per data obtained by Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols, Clark’s pro-am appearance generated 2,693 posts on X, which led to 241,704 engagements and 18,325,849 impressions. The tournament’s Instagram account saw a 591 percent increase in views year-over-year. On site, there were crowds several rows deep trying to get a view of the WNBA superstar alongside Nelly Korda. The crowds weren’t as big as they were for Clark’s 2024 pro-am appearance, but the gravitational pull of her star power was still evident as she smiled and laughed her way through nine holes while working on her improving game.

“I think it just shows how powerful supporting women can truly be,” Clark said during a walk-and-talk with Golf Channel during the pro-am. “I’ve always been a big advocate of that, of supporting women’s sports. And always been a big fan of whether it’s golf or soccer, volleyball or whatever it is.”

“It’s amazing that she’s into women’s golf and wants to come out here and put a spotlight on us, and on the event and on this tour,” Schmelzel told Golf Channel on Wednesday. “I think it’s a great day for women’s sports overall.”

That bled into Trump’s opening round, where she unsurprisingly struggled en route to a 13-over-par 83 that wasn’t televised. Trump shot a second-round 75 on Friday, part of which was televised, and finished dead last by six shots. At the same time on Friday, Korda was making an electric move up the leaderboard that had LeBron James tweeting. All of the online conversations and impressions are a win. The LPGA should take swings to try to increase its popularity.

Kai Trump’s opening 83 in LPGA debut serves as powerful reminder

By:

Michael Bamberger

But as the weekend at the Annika started with a packed leaderboard and Clark and Trump in the background, bigger questions loomed: What was the LPGA’s plan to retain the new eyeballs they acquired from Clark and Trump? The impressions and social media views are nice. But new commissioner Craig Kessler and the LPGA have to have a strategy to capitalize on them by getting them to return to watch Korda and the tour’s other stars, and not just parachute in for a few days every year at the Annika or wherever they create a celebrity boost. Clark and Trump gave the LPGA a bigger spotlight, but neither is the antidote for long-term, breakthrough growth the tour seeks. What Kessler and the LPGA need to do is develop a long-term strategy to increase the popularity and visibility of the sport, from improved television windows to getting its biggest stars to play a bigger role in promoting and pushing the tour forward.

From a micro perspective, the Trump invitation was a chance worth taking. But were the eyeballs she delivered going to stick around past the two days in which she shot 158? No, and especially not without a concrete plan to convince the non-LPGA audience to stick around. That type of plan takes time, trial and error to perfect.

That’s the long game for Kessler and the LPGA. It’s why they inked a partnership deal with Golf Saudi and why they are reportedly moving the site of the Chevron Championship to a more accessible course.

The week at the Annika, which is still going on with a star-studded leaderboard, didn’t end when Trump exited Friday after an LPGA reality check. But the buzz, eyeballs and chatter delivered by Clark and Trump quickly dissipated, leaving only the bigger questions the LPGA has to solve — ones Clark and Trump can’t answer.

Thursday was a great day for tournament golf in general and for the LPGA in particular. The Korean golfer Haeran Ryu shot a flawless first-round 64 in a tournament named for Annika Sorenstam, played at a wide-open, good-looking bayfront course near Clearwater, Fla. One-shot behind her was Grace Kim of Australia.

This is the last full-field (108 players) event of the LPGA season, the last chance to qualify for the grand finale, the CME Group Tour Championship, where 60 players will compete for a $4 million winner’s check, the largest prize in women’s golf; the runner-up will pocket $1 million. Rose Zhang, the Stanford student and in her second full year on tour, is a bubble girl for the Tour Championship. Look out, people: Exploding Stories! Would you know these things if Kai Trump, 18-year-old high school golfer and granddaughter of Donald Trump, were not in the field as a sponsor’s exemption? Perhaps not. But she is, and many of us are taking notice where otherwise me might not.

Trump shot a first-round 83. Nobody shot higher.

And therein lies the real beauty in the day. Kai Trump got one of three special sponsor’s invitations to play in the Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican (hostess/sponsor/course). Would she have received the invitation if her paternal grandfather was not the president of the United States, and if she did not have more than 7 million followers on her various social-media platforms? No. Does her presence in this tournament bring the LPGA some added attention, as the tournament sponsors hoped it would? Yes. That’s not where the beauty lies. The beauty lies in the powerful reminder of what tournament golf is all about: the scores. The scores!

If Kai Trump is ever going to become an LPGA player, her stated goal, she’s going to have to do what every card-carrying LPGA player does, and that’s shoot the scores to earn — to earn!— her place. Full stop. That’s why millions of us are drawn to golf. There’s no place to hide. You can tell IG stories until you’re green in the face, but it really doesn’t matter. In tournament golf — most particularly the professional golf we watch in person and whatever screen is nearby — your day can always be summarized by a number. For Haeran Ryu on Thursday, that number was 64, six under par. For Kai Trump, that number was 83, 13 over par.

“I was definitely more nervous than I expected,” Trump told reporters shortly after her round concluded. Surely an honest assessment. “I hit a lot of good shots just to the wrong spots.” A comment you might expect to hear from a good high school golfer. Not one you’re likely to hear from a touring pro.

Trump goes to the Benjamin School in South Florida. Sam Woods, eldest child of Elin Nordegren and Tiger Woods, is in her class. Charlie Woods is on the boys’ team there. Kai Trump got pep-talk advice from her grandfather, from Tiger Woods (her mother’s boyfriend), from Annika Sorenstam. She has access to the best golf instructors, fitness experts, equipment fitters, manufacturers, courses, practice facilities and the rest. If Trump wants to make it in professional golf, she’s going to have to rise above all that. It won’t be easy.

“I feel sorry for rich kids now, I really do,” Ben Hogan said in 1983. “Because they’re never going to have the opportunity I had. I know tough things, and I had tough days all my life, and I can handle tough things. They can’t.”

The tournament organizers did not hide from the reason Trump was invited to play in this event. It wasn’t because of her off-the-charts talent. There are likely thousands of teenage golfers across the world who are better than Trump. It’s because of her bloodline, and the social-media reach that has come out of it.

2 ways to think about Kai Trump’s controversial LPGA invite

By:

Josh Schrock

“This is one of the most talked-about women’s golf tournaments that has probably ever existed,” Justin Sheehan, chief operating officer of the Pelican Golf Club, said shortly after Trump’s invitation became public late last month. “The numbers of social-media impressions are staggering. Love it or hate it, it’s getting people to talk about the event.”

This is a new day in golf’s long-standing custom of offering sponsor’s exemptions to golfers, amateur or professional, who can help at the gate and broadly improve the tournament. When Tony Romo, a break-par golfer played in PGA Tour events as an amateur playing as a sponsor’s invitation, the built-in question was, What is the difference between an elite former NFL quarterback who plays good golf and a PGA Tour player?

In other words, it was his athletic skill and the fame that came from it that got him a PGA Tour tee time. When Sorenstam played in a PGA Tour event, the same basic math: What can one of the greatest women golfers do when playing against the men? It was her athletic skill and the fame that came with it that earned her the invitation to the 2003 Colonial.

Kai Trump is not famous because of her athletic gifts (though she did make a most-impressive 20-foot back-of-the rim shot on the first tee of the Wednesday pro-am on her first and only shot). She is famous because of her DNA. It’s a different thing. It’s a different era.

When Trump was invited to play in this event, the invitation went not directly to Trump or to her mother or father or high school coach. It went to her agents. She is represented by GSE Worldwide, the same agency that represents many LIV Golf players. Her asking-price quote for a one-off Instagram video post is $125,000. She is developing her own merchandise line. Will her two days — there is a 36-hole cut in this 72-hole event — in the Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican hurt business no matter what scores she shoots? Not likely.

The levels of confluence here are staggering. Donald Trump, in his first term, gave Tiger Woods the Presidential Medal of Freedom shortly after Woods won the 2019 Masters. There’s also a Tiger Woods Villa at Trump Doral in Miami. When Trump was the host of an LPGA event at his course in West Palm Beach, he played in the pro-am with Sorenstam, then the best player in women’s golf. On Jan. 7, 2021, Sorenstam, alongside Gary Player, also received a Presidential Medal of Freedom from Trump. Woods, among others, met with Trump in the White House with hopes of resolving the ongoing dispute and tension between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. Trump was an early supporter of the LIV Golf cause. One of his golf buddies is the LIV star and two-time U.S. Open winner Bryson DeChambeau, who is also represented by GSE Worldwide.

So much synergy!

But synergy cannot turn an 80-shooter into a 70-shooter. The golfer shoots what the golfer shoots. The rest is commentary.

Michael Bamberger welcomes your comments at Michael.Bamberger@Golf.com

Kai Trump, the US president’s granddaughter and the eldest child of Donald Trump Jr, opened her LPGA career with a 13-over-par 83 on Thursday at The Annika, a debut round that left her at the bottom of the leaderboard and underscored the chasm between elite junior golf and a field stacked with the sport’s top professionals.

The 18-year-old amateur, playing on a much-discussed sponsor’s exemption, began her round on the back nine alongside former major champion Hinako Shibuno and Germany’s Olivia Cowan. She received warm applause when her name was announced on the par-4 10th tee and again after she drove it safely into the fairway, one of the few calm moments in a jittery start.

Trump confessed afterward she was more nervous than when she spoke at the Republican National Convention last year and it showed. She bogeyed her opening four holes, a run of tentative strokes that left her scrambling before she had taken a fifth swing from a fairway. A steady par at the par-5 14th finally stopped the slide, and she mixed two more bogeys with a pair of pars, including a sharp up-and-down at the par-3 16th that drew one of the biggest roars of the early afternoon. She reached the turn in 41.

Her mother, Vanessa, and University of Miami assistant coach Jim Garren walked inside the ropes throughout – one day after Miami formally announced her commitment to join the Hurricanes for the 2026–27 season. What Golf Channel commentators described as the day’s largest gallery trailed along, a mix of supporters, skeptics and onlookers aware that her exemption had dominated American golf discourse for weeks.

The LPGA’s television window expired after Trump’s first hole, an awkward scheduling outcome given the buzz surrounding her debut, but it did nothing to slow the crowds. Fans pressed up against the ropes on nearly every fairway.

The back nine offered more turbulence. Trump dropped a shot immediately after the turn, then ran into real trouble with two double-bogeys over her next four holes. On the par-4 eighth – her 17th – a topped iron produced an audible gasp, only for her to answer with her crispest swing of the day, knocking the following shot to four feet despite Trump looking straight into the sun. Two more bogeys at the finish left her at 83, the highest score of the day.

“The whole time I was nervous without a doubt,†Trump said. “But I thought I did pretty good for a first time, being the youngest player in the field. Now I kind of know how it goes.â€

University of Miami commit Kai Trump plays a sand shot on the first hole at The Annika tournament on Thursday. Photograph: Icon Sportswire/Getty Images

Her presence has split opinion across the US golf establishment. Some analysts argued that the combination of Donald Trump’s granddaughter in the field and WNBA star Caitlin Clark in the pro-am made this one of the tour’s most talked-about weeks in recent memory. Others questioned whether a player ranked No 461 in the American Junior Golf Association should occupy a late-season spot in a field where professionals are fighting for season-ending accolades and – for some – their jobs next year.

Tournament host Annika Sorenstam defended the decision, urging critics to “give this girl a chance.†Pelican Golf Club owner Dan Doyle Jr, whose club controlled the exemption, said Trump’s presence had already driven a noticeable surge in attention, particularly across social media, where she has more than nine million followers. “She’s lovely to speak with,†Doyle said. “And this has created a buzz on top of the other great players we have here.â€

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Trump has repeatedly framed the week as a learning experience. She has been candid about weaknesses in her short game and putting, even as Pelican officials praised her length and ball-striking during practice rounds.

Her support network includes her grandfather, whose advice was to “have fun, don’t get nervousâ€, and Tiger Woods, the 15-times major champion who is dating her mother, Vanessa. Woods told her to “go with the flowâ€, guidance she referenced again Thursday as she recounted regrouping after mistakes.

South Korea’s Ryu Hae-ran led after a six-under 64, one shot ahead of Australia’s Grace Kim. Jennifer Kupcho sat two strokes back, while Charley Hull was among a group one shot further behind – a reminder of just how sharp the standard is at an event that routinely draws one of the LPGA’s strongest fields.

There are zero expectations for Kai Trump this week.

The 18-year-old granddaughter of President Donald Trump received a sponsor invite to the Annika, the 2025 LPGA season’s penultimate event, and her pro tour debut has already achieved its purpose by drawing eyeballs to Pelican Golf Club on Florida’s west coast. Trump is committed to the University of Miami and aspires to play on the LPGA Tour. But she’s not ranked in the top 3,000 of the World Amateur Golf Rankings and is 461st in the Rolex AJGA Rankings.

Put simply, this week will be a massive step up for Trump. And while she won’t peg it Thursday with plans to contend with Nelly Korda, Lexi Thompson and others over the weekend, she will make her LPGA debut armed with advice from Tiger Woods, who dates Kai’s mother, Vanessa Trump.

The 15-time major champion has said many times he never enters a tournament he doesn’t believe he can win, but he had a different message for Kai.

“He is the best golfer in the entire world,” Kai said of Woods on Tuesday at her press conference. “I would say that. And even better person. He told me to go out there and have fun and just go with the flow. Whatever happens, happens.”

Trump also got to pick the brain of LPGA legend and tournament host Annika Sorenstam during a practice round. As Trump and the 10-time major champion made their way around Pelican, Trump got pointers on her short game, and Sorenstam discussed with Trump how she should approach the week.

“I don’t think anybody here is thinking that she will be the one holding the trophy on Sunday,” Sorenstam said. “It’s about opportunities and memories and lessons learned. I spoke to her a little bit yesterday. You know, just make the most out of this week. There will be lessons learned. Take them to the future and learn. That’s how we grow. I mean, she’s [18], right? I mean, there are so many lessons she’s going to learn through life and today is — this week is going to be the biggest lesson learned.

“Hopefully this will inspire her even more to work on her game and get better and start setting some goals. But as far as success for her, I mean, I can’t speak for her. Just come out here and absorb, meet players, enjoy the atmosphere and the course, and just maybe make new friends; you know, create memories with your family. And then you go out there and do your best. That’s really all she can do and I think that’s all anybody would love to see.”

Trump’s invite is controversial, given her skill level and, of course, her last name. But sponsor invitations are about creating buzz and excitement, and grabbing eyeballs. Think Tony Romo at the Byron Nelson or tennis pro Mardy Fish at the 3M Open.

2 ways to think about Kai Trump’s controversial LPGA invite

By:

Josh Schrock

To that end, Trump’s involvement already has been a success. There has been more coverage of this week’s Annika than any non-major LPGA tournament this season. One could make a good argument that the buzz this week is greater than any tournament this season, excluding perhaps the U.S. Women’s Open at Erin Hills.

All that’s left is for Kai Trump to put a tee in the ground on Thursday and enjoy an unexpected opportunity by following Woods and Sorenstam’s advice.

“I think I’m going to learn a lot no matter what happens. I’m just going to go out there and have fun and see which way it goes,” Trump said. “I’m going to take a lot away from it. Obviously, competing with the best players is going to be cool. To be inside the ropes with them, playing with them, learning what kind of shots they hit, what they do on the course.”

Sorenstam hopes that everyone who tunes in to watch Kai Trump play will do so with an open mind and the grace she wished she received when she played in the Colonial on the PGA Tour as a sponsor’s invite in 2003.

“Going out there and playing a big course and environment like this, I’m sure she’s used to a lot of people looking at her and analyzing everything,” Sorenstam said. ” … I just don’t know how she does it, honestly. To be 18 years old and hear all the comments, she must be super tough on the inside. I’m sure we can all relate to what it’s like to get criticism here and there, but she gets it a thousand times.

“That’s why I just want to give her a break, come out here and have fun. We want her to feel like family here, and I want her to feel welcome. I mean, give this girl a chance, right?”

Nov 11, 2025, 06:01 PM ET

Kai Trump geared up for her first LPGA Tour event this week by getting some words of wisdom from the president of the United States and a 15-time major champion.

Their advice: Have fun.

That’s what Trump told reporters Tuesday, two days before she tees it up at The Annika at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Florida. The 18-year-old said both her grandfather, President Donald Trump, and Tiger Woods reached out ahead of the event.

“[Tiger] told me to go out there and have fun and just go with the flow. Whatever happens, happens,” she said.

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Trump is the eldest child of Donald Trump Jr. Wildly popular on social media, the University of Miami commit received a sponsor’s invite to the LPGA event hosted by Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam.

Trump said her grandfather advised her to stay calm this week: “Just don’t get nervous. Try my best not to,” she said.

President Trump is an avid golfer himself, and Kai said the two have shared plenty of time together on the course.

“He’s pretty good,” she said.

Asked if she has ever beaten him, Kai Trump declined to answer.

“I’ll leave that up to you to decide,” she said. “I don’t know. We play a lot. We have a great time out there. We’re always on the same team as well.”

Kai Trump answers questions from the media ahead of her LPGA debut Thursday at The Annika. Brian Spurlock/Icon Sportswire

Trump added her grandfather won’t be in attendance this week in Florida.

But plenty of other greats will be at the event, including defending champion Nelly Korda and WNBA star Caitlin Clark, who will take part in the pro-am Wednesday.

“All these players out here are amazing and they’re all good at what they do, and it’s just really cool to be inside the ropes with them and be on the range with them,” she said. “I think I’m going to learn a lot from watching them play throughout week. It’s been amazing so far.”

Trump, currently 461st in the American Junior Golf Association rankings, will tee up alongside Olivia Cowan and Hinako Shibuno at 12:32 p.m. ET on Thursday.

Time is money, and so is attention. The LPGA desperately needs both, and it is set to receive a healthy dose of the former at this week’s event, the Annika, but not only because a handful of the world’s best players, including defending champion Nelly Korda, are teeing it up.

Bringing extra eyeballs to the proceedings at Pelican Golf Club will be Kai Trump, President Donald Trump’s 18-year-old granddaughter, who has a place in the field by way of a sponsor’s invitation.

Trump’s LPGA debut — and the debate surrounding the invite — perfectly illustrates a challenge the LPGA and new commissioner Craig Kessler face.

The Annika is the penultimate event of the season before next week’s CME Group Tour Championship for the top 60 players. In theory, this week should be about the tour building to an exciting finale centered the top players in the game. In reality, most of the discussion surrounding the tournament has centered on Trump’s surprise invite.

A look at Trump on paper tells you that this stage is one she isn’t prepared for. Her Rolex AJGA Ranking is 461. She’s not in the top 3,000 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. At the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley in the spring, Trump fired rounds of 89-79-83-89. She is committed to the University of Miami and has dreams of playing on the LPGA one day.

Kai Trump is at the Pelican because of her last name, and because of her massive social media followingthat eclipses 8 million across all platforms.

“Kai is an up-and-coming player,” tournament host Annika Sorenstam said on Golf Channel’s Golf Central. “She is committed to Miami, and she has aspirations of playing [on the LPGA]. I think she adds some excitement to it.

“She has a lot of followers on social media. She loves the game. It’s super exciting to have her there. That’s what this tournament is about — helping young girls fulfill their dream through the Annika Foundation. … So this is kind of what this tournament is all about. So super excited. There has been a lot of talk and already getting some exposure which we’re excited about.”

Every tournament is given sponsor invites. Sorenstam used hers on Wake Forest senior Anne-Sterre den Dunnen; title sponsor Gainbridge invited Northwestern All-American Lauryn Nguyen; and the club, which is owned by the Doyle family, invited Trump.

Big scores are likely in (and on) the cards for Trump, and there’s the potential for a circus-like atmosphere to form around her and her group, which could be a detriment to the players trying to play their way into the top 60 for next week’s finale.

And yet…the Trump invite is also the type of tactic the LPGA might need to gain exposure. You see, the conversation is the point.

“I would imagine, since the Tuesday announcement, that this is one of the most talked-about women’s golf tournaments that has probably ever existed,” Justin Sheehan, chief operating officer of the Pelican, told GOLF’s Michael Bamberger. “It’s on news channels and sports channels. The numbers of social-media impressions, I guess they call it, are staggering. Love it or hate it, it’s getting people to talk about the event.

‘Getting people to talk’: Kai Trump’s surprising LPGA invite achieving its goal

By:

Michael Bamberger

“We’re on a mission to grow this game. Seeing the impact Caitlin had last year was fairly eye-opening.”

Women’s golf has struggled to gain a foothold, build positive momentum and break through to the larger sports world. There are many reasons for that and many obstacles for Kessler to overcome as he starts his tenure.

Last year, Korda went on a blistering run. The then-World No. 1 won five straight tournaments, including a major, and finished the year with seven wins. Her exceptional play mirrored Scottie Scheffler’s on the men’s side and coincided with the power surge that Caitlin Clark, who will play in the Annika pro-am for the second consecutive year, was delivering to the WNBA.

But Korda’s historic season didn’t have the long-term impact the LPGA hoped for. Korda hasn’t won this season, and only current World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul and Miyu Yamashita have won multiple tournaments. The LPGA has depth and parity, but a dominant superstar or superstars are what will put the league in front of new audiences and deliver the growth the league seeks.

In an ideal world, the LPGA would get people to tune in this week to see Korda, Charley Hull, Lexi Thompson, Lottie Woad and Rose Zhang without needing a carrot as an entry point.

But creativity is sometimes needed to spark interest and generate momentum.

In that sense, having Kai Trump in the field, along with Clark playing in Wednesday’s pro-am, is the type of marketing that might be necessary. It will make the Annika one of the most talked-about LPGA events of the season and perhaps the top draw in the past number of years. If people who might not otherwise engage with the LPGA tune in to watch Trump, there’s a chance they’ll stick around even after she exits. The same is true of those who show up on Wednesday to watch Clark in the pro-am and get exposure to Korda and others.

“I don’t think it’s anything different than any other tournament,” Sorenstam said. “You just want to bring more people into it, more eyeballs as they said and create excitement.”

The Kai Trump exemption is a Rorschach test.

On one hand, there’s a clear argument that her current playing ability makes her undeserving of a spot in the penultimate event of the LPGA season, with so much on the line for many of the players. Perhaps you’re a golf purist who doesn’t believe sponsor exemptions should exist at all. Perhaps her grandfather plays a role in how you feel about her appearance. It would be naive to think it doesn’t. On the other hand, Kai Trump is a celebrity and celebrities bring attention, which can lead to growth and money. The LPGA needs to find a way to generate and keep generating all of the above.

Your stance on the issue ultimately depends on your view of the bigger picture for women’s golf and the avenues you believe are available to solve the LPGA’s biggest conundrum.

Fans can expect to see more of Leilani Kai on WWE TV after the former Women’s Champion shared that she has signed a Legends Deal with the promotion. Speaking to Bill Apter for The Apter Chat, Kai shared how WWE approached her during recovery from surgery.

“I was in the hospital, and after my surgery, a couple days later they, WWE, called and asked if they could take care of my hospital bill or if there was anything they could do.“

Kai turned the offer down, sharing that she was already being taken care of. Then, WWE’s representative dropped the bombshell, revealing they wanted her with ‘the family’ under a WWE Legends Deal.

“I told them no, I was taken care of, I was fine. And then they told me they wanted me to join their family.“

Kai admitted to being surprised by the offer, which Apter congratulated her on. When asked if Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque rang her, Kai shared it wasn’t The Game, but rather an assistant by the name of Ben Brown.

Though Kai didn’t share when exactly she signed, it is believed that the contract was inked in late 2024 as her hip surgery was at that time. Kai appeared at Saturday Night’s Main Event in May 2025, marking her first WWE appearance in over 30 years. Mere months later, she appeared at the WWE Evolution event in July and her first shirt ever released would sell out on WWEShop.com in less than a month.

A former WWF and NWA Women’s Champion and WWF Women’s Tag Champion who competed at WrestleMania 1, Kai is certainly a legend. Now, she is part of the WWE ‘family’ with this exciting deal.

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WWE is giving flowers to one of its original trailblazers. Leilani Kai, a name forever linked to the early years of WWEâ€s womenâ€s division, has signed a Legends deal with the company—and the way it all came together is something straight out of a feel-good script.

During her recent appearance on The Apter Chat, the former WWF Womenâ€s Champion revealed that WWE reached out while she was recovering from hip surgery. What started as a check-in turned into an invitation to rejoin the company in an official Legends capacity.

“Well, I had, um, finally my surgery on my hip. I was in the hospital, and after my surgery, a couple days later, they, um, called me — WWE called and asked if they could take care of my hospital bill or if there was anything they could do. And I told them no, I was taken care of, I was fine. And then they told me they wanted me to join their family.â€

Kai admitted she didnâ€t see it coming at all. When asked who reached out, she said it wasnâ€t Triple H himself, but one of his key team members.

“Yes, I was surprised. I never expected that. It was one of, um, Triple Hâ€s assistants — Ben Brown.â€

This moment marks a full-circle return for one of WWEâ€s original womenâ€s champions. Leilani Kai made history as part of the very first WrestleMania in 1985, defending the WWF Womenâ€s Championship against Wendi Richter in a nationally televised title match that involved Cyndi Lauper and helped kickstart the Rock ‘n†Wrestling era. Sheâ€s also a two-time WWF Womenâ€s Tag Team Champion alongside Judy Martin as The Glamour Girls, a team that laid groundwork for the current womenâ€s tag division decades before it existed in its modern form.

Earlier this year, she made a surprise appearance on WWE programming for the first time in 30 years during the May 24th episode of Saturday Nightâ€s Main Event—a rare nod to the past that now feels like the beginning of a reunion.

WWEâ€s decision to honor Leilani Kai isnâ€t just a deal—itâ€s a sign that the company is finally recognizing the women who helped build the foundation before the Womenâ€s Evolution ever had a name.

Leilani Kaiâ€s Legends deal is more than overdue. Itâ€s a powerful reminder that legends arenâ€t just made—theyâ€re remembered.

How do you feel about WWE giving Leilani Kai her due recognition? Should more women from her era receive Legends deals too? Let us know in the comments.

Please credit Ringside News if you use the above transcript in your publication.

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On a Sunday in May in 2017, a little girl stood on the final hole of the Senior PGA Championship in Virginia, watching Bernhard Langer win the event by a shot over Vijay Singh. The girl, Kai Trump, was beside her father, Donald Trump Jr., at a course owned by her paternal grandfather, Donald Trump, then in the first year of his first term as president of the United States. Kai Trump, wide-eyed and 10, looked happy to be there. She was already way into golf.

Eight years later, her grandfather is in the first year of his second term as president and Kai is captain of the girls’ golf team at the Benjamin School in South Florida. Her mother (Vanessa Trump) is dating Tiger Woods. On Tuesday, Kai announced that she has accepted an invitation to play in a mid-November LPGA event in Florida sponsored by Annika Sorenstam.

“What’s up, guys?” Kai said at the start of her 37-second poolside video announcement, posted on TikTok, where she has 3.4 million followers. “I am thrilled to announce that I will be making my LPGA debut in November at the Annika.”

Tuesday night, Kai did a 15-minute Sirius XM radio interview with Sorenstam and her husband, Mike McGee, son of Jerry McGee, a prominent PGA Tour player in the 1970s. McGee said that, according to his math, Kai had more than 8 million followers, combining her different social-media channels.

“I couldn’t do it without my team,” Kai noted.

“I could use some help on my content,” Sorenstam said.

Kai Trump is a good junior golfer with LPGA aspirations who has committed to play golf at the University of Miami, starting next year. There are hundreds of other female teenage golfers with similar profiles. Kai was invited to play in Sorenstam’s event because her paternal grandfather is president of the United States and because her social-media following is massive. Nobody is disputing that.

“I would imagine, since the Tuesday announcement, that this is one of the most talked-about women’s golf tournaments that has probably ever existed,” Justin Sheehan, chief operating officer of the tournament’s host club, Pelican Golf Club, said in a phone interview Thursday. “It’s on news channels and sports channels. The numbers of social-media impressions, I guess they call it, are staggering. Love it or hate it, it’s getting people to talk about the event.

“We’re on a mission to grow this game. Seeing the impact Caitlin had last year was fairly eye-opening.”

Caitlin Clark, the star point guard of the WNBA’s Indiana Fever, put her promising golf game on public display at last year’s tournament, playing in the pro-am with Sorenstam. Clark will play in this year’s pro-am again. Sheehan, a former teaching pro who has worked with LPGA players, described Clark as a single-digit golfer with unlimited upside.

Kai Trump with her grandfather at the 2025 Ryder Cup.

getty images

Sheehan, along with his teaching-pro wife, Nathalia Sheehan, played nine holes with Kai Trump at Pelican this year. Asked for a scouting report, Sheehan said that Kai had an impressive swing and LPGA length and, like all young players, was learning about shot selection. (Her caddie for the tournament will be her friend Allan Kournikova, the 21-year-old brother of the retired tennis player Anna Kournikova.) Sheehan declined to make any sort of prediction for what Kai might shoot in the four-day tournament, which begins Nov. 13.

Last year, the 36-hole cut was two over par, 142. Given Kai’s scoring in junior events, where her scores are often in the mid-70s or higher, making the cut would be an astonishing achievement. Sheehan noted that sponsor’s invitations at many professional tournaments go to players with a wide range of skills, including local pros and famous athletes.

Sheehan said that in the event’s first year, in 2020, his future wife, competing as Nathalie Filler, played in the tournament on a sponsor’s exemption. Filler’s main playing qualification was that she was the North Florida PGA Player of the Year. By any ordinary measure, she’s an excellent golfer. Competing against the best players in the world, Filler missed the cut by 12.

As Tiger Woods has often said, getting better at golf comes as a series of “baby steps.” His goal, rising in the game as an amateur, was to dominate at every level at which he played. But he did play in the 1992 Los Angeles Open, on a sponsor’s exemption, as a 16-year-old amateur — and the reigning U.S. Junior Amateur champion. Steph Curry has played in professional events as a sponsor’s exemption, as a scratch golfer and one of the best basketball players in history. Annika Sorenstam played in a PGA Tour event, the 2003 Colonial, on a sponsor’s exemption, and as the most dominant woman golfer in the game. Sheehan noted that Bryson DeChambeau’s social-media following — his videotaped efforts to break 50 on a short course in the company of people including Steph Curry and President Trump — has brought golf to an incalculable number of new-to-golf viewers. He expects Kai Trump’s participation in an LPGA event to do the same. The key numbers here are not her scorecard totals but her social-media reach.

The birth-certificate name of the November event is The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican, but players and fans call it the Annika, for the tournament host, the 55-year-old Swedish golf legend who lives in Orlando. Gainbridge, a financial services company, is the tournament sponsor, responsible for the event’s $3.25 million purse, 15 percent of which ($487,000) goes to the winner, if the winner is a pro. You can say, with near certainty, that the winner will be a pro — a Nelly Korda, a Charlie Hull. (Kai Trump will compete as an amateur.) The tournament will be played on the “reimagined” Donald Ross course at the Pelican Golf Club, near Clearwater, Fla. Justin Sheehan, a former teaching pro, is the club’s chief operating officer, and the invitation to Kai Trump comes at the behest of Pelican, which is granted one of the tournament’s three special exemptions.

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Ryan Dever, the tournament director, said in an interview that he extended the invitation to Kai via her agent and that “the communication has been through Kai’s team.”

The event is the last full-field event of the LPGA season, four rounds with a 36-hole cut and 108 players, three of whom are in the field by special invitation.

One spot is reserved annually for a member of the winning team of a collegiate event sponsored by Sorenstam, the Annika Intercollegiate. The winning team was Wake Forest and the team decided that Anne-Sterre den Dunnen of the Netherlands, a senior, would represent the team at Sorenstam’s LPGA event.

A second spot is given by Gainbridge and went to Lauryn Nguyen, a promising Northwestern University golfer. Like Kai Trump, Lauryn Nguyen is making her LPGA pro debut. But, unlike Kai, she did not announce her participation in the event by way of a TikTok posting that traveled the world reaching hundreds of thousands of people.

It really is an extraordinary 37-second clip. In it, Kai is standing beside a golf net beside a backyard pool with a little putting green and chipping area on the side. The pool has a basketball rim for pool dunking and the hedge behind the pool is trimmed to perfection. She is wearing a TaylorMade hat (her grandfather’s preferred brand) and a sky-blue Benjamin School golf shirt that matches the sky above her. The final punctuation of the video is a nothing-but-net iron shot with a smooth, controlled backswing and finishing with good balance. She’s wearing little white ankle socks. She has an interesting speaking style, by which she throws down her right hand to emphasize certain syllables. Millions have seen it. Pretty soon here, millions will see her swing in an LPGA event.

Michael Bamberger welcomes your comments at Michael.Bamberger@Golf.com.