The Internet Invitational has become one of the wildest things golf's online world produces every year, and this time around it's pulling in a name a lot of people weren't sure would come back. Paige Spiranac is officially in for this year's event, and she's kicking things off the way she always does with Fore Play: a 3-v-1 scramble, boys against her, except she's playing every hole from the front tees.
Fore Play framed it as the next chapter in a rivalry that keeps getting more ridiculous every year.
Front-tee scrambles against a full 3-man crew sound like a mismatch on paper, but that's the point. It's become a bit of a running series between Spiranac and the Fore Play guys, and the footage backs up that this wasn't some soft, staged exhibition. Real swings, real approach shots, real balls trickling up near the pin while three guys stand around watching her work.
The scramble footage shows the actual gameplay from the front-tee showdown, presented by Chevrolet.
Before anyone gets to the golf, though, it's worth remembering why Spiranac even had a decision to make about coming back at all. Last year's Internet Invitational, the $4 million Bob Does Sports and Barstool production at Big Cedar Lodge, ended with Spiranac's team in the championship match and Spiranac herself accused of cheating after cameras caught her appearing to flatten grass in front of a teammate's lie in the rough. She later said the backlash was the worst hate she's received in 10 years of being online, and reported getting tens of thousands of death threats afterward. That's not internet drama, that's a genuinely brutal stretch for someone who makes a living being liked.
So the fact that she's back, and back specifically to reunite on camera with the Fore Play crew, is a bigger story than just another scramble video. She sat down and actually talked through what went into deciding to play again this year.
Spiranac walked through what factored into her call to play the Internet Invitational again this year.
The Fore Play reunion angle matters too. This crew has a long, genuinely weird history together on camera, and the account resurfaced an old bit as a reminder of just how far back it goes: Spiranac once tried to tee a ball off of Trent while he held a plank on the fairway. It's the kind of stunt that only makes sense if you've followed this specific chaotic corner of golf content for years, and it's exactly why fans want these two sides matched up again.
An old clip resurfaced of Spiranac attempting a trick-shot tee-off using Trent as a human tee.
None of this settles the actual scramble, but that's not really the point of day one. The bigger headline is that Spiranac chose to walk back into the same tournament, the same cameras, and the same Fore Play matchup that got tangled up in one of the ugliest moments of her online career last year. Whatever happens on the scorecard this time, showing back up is the story.