NEWYou can now listen to PK Press Club articles!
President Donald Trump’s granddaughter Kai Trump improved after a rough first day of her LPGA debut.
During her encore at The Annika Friday, she improved by eight strokes from her performance on Thursday.
After finishing playing Friday, Trump said she felt more “peaceful” than Thursday, which led to an improvement.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON PK Press Club
American amateur Kai Trump lines up her putt on the 15th green during the first round of The Annika at Pelican Golf Club on November 13, 2025, in Belleair, Florida. (Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
“The first day I was really, really nervous. I think the nervousness got to me,” she said. “When I went there today, I felt very calm and peaceful, to be honest with you. That’s why I played better.
“I’ve done everything I could have done for this tournament. So, I think if you prepare well, the nerves can…they’ll always be there, right? They can be softened a little bit. So, I’ll just say that.”
Trump’s “peaceful” mindset may have paid off when she made a series of early errors on the third, fourth and fifth holes, but managed to birdie three of her next six holes.
WNBA STAR CAITLIN CLARK RETURNS IN THE GOLF SPOTLIGHT WITH AN APPEARANCE AT ANNIKA LPGA PRO-AM
“Things are going to happen. Once it happens, you can’t go back in time and fix it,” she said of the triple. “The best thing I could do is move on. As I told my caddy, Allan, he started laughing. That’s what it is. We’ve sorted that out, so let’s move on. It was pretty easy to move on after that.”
However, she finished in last place among the 108 players and will not qualify to continue the tournament this weekend. She finished with a two-round total of 18 of 158, placing her 27 shots behind leader Grace Kim (65-66) and 17 away from the projected cut line at one over par.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE PK Press Club APP
Amateur Kai Trump tees off from the 16th tee during the first round of The Annika at Pelican Golf Club on November 13, 2025, in Belleair, Florida. (Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
But Trump’s performance earned him praise from women’s golf star Charley Hull, a supporter of the president.
“It’s really good considering it’s not just an easy LPGA event. It’s probably one of the toughest courses we play on,” Hull said of Trump, per Golf Channel.
“So for her to come out, she must have been really nervous. It was her first LPGA event. I remember my first event. I was really nervous, and she had a lot of pressure on her and a lot of eyes on her.”
