Kai Trump advances by 8 strokes but misses the cut at the LPGA Annika event

Kai Trump, a high school senior playing in an LPGA Tour event for reasons beyond her ability to hit the golf ball, went from “really, really nervous” in Thursday’s first round to “very calm and peaceful” in Friday’s second.

All in all, an impressive development.

Still, Trump, 18, did not finish last among 108 players, finishing 27 shots behind leader Grace Kim and 17 shy of the projected cut line in two rounds of 18-over-par. President Trump’s granddaughter improved to an eight-stroke 75 in the second round of the tournament hosted by Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam at Pelican Golf Club in Bellaire, Fla.

How dramatic was the development? Trump had nine bogeys, two doubles and a birdie on Thursday. A day later she was under par when she birdied the par-three third hole, but she bogeyed the par-four fifth hole for a par.

Trump birdied three of his next six holes. How comfortable was she? She literally laughed off her triple bogey.

“Things happen,” she said. “Once it happens, you can’t go back in time and fix it. The best thing I can do is move it. Like I told my caddy, Allen. [Kournikova]Kind of just started laughing, ‘It is what it is.’

“We got that out of the way, so let’s move on. It was pretty easy to move on after that.”

Especially on the par-three 12th where she nearly made the first hole-in-one of her life.

“I hit it like a hard little nut,” Trump said. “Trying not to get too high because of the wind. Yeah, that was a good shot.”

What will he tell his grandfather about the period? “That I hit great shots on 12 two days in a row.”

She said: “I did everything I possibly could have done for this tournament, so I think if you prepare properly, nerves can … they’re always going to be there, right?” she said “They can be a little soft. So I’ll just say that.”

Critics among her nearly 9 million social media followers and beyond were unrelenting in noting her apparent discretion to secure a sponsor invitation. Dan Doyle Jr., owner of Pelican Golf Club, happily acknowledged that Trump’s inclusion had less to do with talent and more to do with public relations.

“The idea of ​​immunity, when you go into the history of immunity, is to focus on one event,” Doyle told reporters this week. “You should see her live, she’s lovely to talk to.

“And she brought in a lot of viewers through Instagram, and things that don’t normally see women’s golf. That was the hope. And we’re seeing it now.”

Trump attends The Benjamin School in Palm Beach and will attend the University of Miami next year. She is ranked No. 461 by the American Junior Golf Assn.

Climbing the LPGA, complete with a deep gallery of spectators and a phalanx of Secret Service agents surrounding her, can be difficult. Trump, however, said the experience was “very good.”

It’s been an important week for Trump. She played nine holes of the pro-am round on Monday with tournament host Sorenstam, who sympathized with the difficulty of handling the intense outpouring of criticism and support.

“I just don’t know how he does it, honestly,” Sorenstam said. “To be 18 years old and hear all the comments, she must be very tough inside. I’m sure we can all relate to being criticized here and there, but she gets it a thousand times over.”

Sorenstam noted her exemption for the Bank of America Colony in 2003 when she became the first woman to play in a men’s PGA Tour event in 58 years. She made a 14-foot putt on the 18th green to give her a five-over 36-hole total of 145. She threw her golf ball into the grandstand, wiped away tears and was hugged by her husband, David Esch.

“It was probably a bit of a controversial call at the time,” Sorenstam said. “In the end, I definitely appreciated it. It just brings attention to the tournament, to the sport and to women’s sports, which I think is what we want.”