Paige Spiranac is no stranger to the spot-light, but at the Barstool Sports Internet Invitational, that attention came in the form of a cheating controversy. But now, that's shifting. After social media silence, reports of Spiranac's kind gesture are turning heads across the Internet.

Each participant earned between fifteen thousand and sixteen thousand dollars in skins money. Barstool's Francis Ellis revealed that she gave her winnings to the family of Cody “Beef” Franke.

He said, “I found out through a little birdie that when we all got paid our skins money from the second day, which was $15,000 or $16,000 each, Paige Spiranac donated all of her skins money to Beef’s family.”

Franke was a popular host of Barstool’s “Fore Play” podcast. He died in October after an unspecified medical issue, shortly after the tournament. Ellis and Brad Dalke played alongside Franke in the event, which was created by Barstool founder Dave Portnoy, and the trio won the $1M grand prize.

Instead of a public gesture, Spiranac simply told organizers, “Send it to Beef’s family.” Ellis added that the gesture was meaningful despite Spiranac is earning well as a creator. But that's not all. Ellis understood something about Paige Spiranac.

"She didn’t ask anyone to tell, she didn’t do that, she didn’t expect that to come out. I’m impressed that she did that. Especially impressed that it would never have gotten out and if I had not found out and told it on her behalf."

It puts to rest a controversial tournament marked with cheating allegations for Paige Spiranac. Let's see what those were.

Why Golf Fans Are Accusing Paige Spiranac of Cheating in the Tournament

A moment on the ninth hole sparked a cheating controversy. Spiranac appeared to push down high grass in the rough, which created an opening for competitor Malosi Togisala to take a cleaner shot.

The clip circulated online and led to accusations of foul play. She became visibly emotional and pushed back against the claims, stating that she did not touch the ball and that she had no intention of creating any unfair advantage during the event.

The accusations followed her through the final day of the two-day Invitational, which had been recorded for a later broadcast. The reaction, according to Francis Ellis, was swift and harsh across social platforms.

While talking about it, Spiranac revealed, "The last week and a half is probably the worst hate I’ve ever received in the ten years of me doing this... The last week and a half is probably the worst hate I’ve ever received in the ten years of me doing this."

Written by

Aditi Singh

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar