How a Trump-Tiger affair made golf great again! Army of young female fans flock to see Kai and THAT new power couple

A little before 10:30am Wednesday morning, Kai Trump and her security detail strolled down to the first tee at Sage Valley Golf Club, South Carolina.

‘Hi, I’m Kai,’ she casually introduced herself to her playing partners and their caddies. No last name.

But maybe she should’ve provided one – the starter got it wrong. He began to announce her as her playing partner Nikki Oh before stumbling over his words to correct his error. Yet, how could he have possibly forgotten? It was splashed across hats littered throughout the smattering of a crowd.

One man leant down next to his young daughter and pointed to Kai. ‘That’s the president’s granddaughter,’ he told her. Because, as she teed it up at the prestigious Junior Invitational, that’s all the 17-year-old was reduced to, the eldest – and most famous – grandchild of President Donald Trump.

While Kai may have been there to savor a taste of elite tournament golf, the spectators gracing Sage Valley with their presence made no secret of who they were really there to see, not Kai the golfer, Kai the Trump.

‘We just had to come when we heard Kai would be playing,’ an elderly couple told DailyMail.com on the first hole. Almost everyone asked offered identical answers. They were all here for Kai, and Kai only.

The Kai-mania began before she’d even stepped foot on the fairways. Traipsing up the steep winding cart path to the range perched on top, the figures of the junior competitors weren’t visible over the steep bank. Yet, it was instantly possible to determine which bay Kai was hitting from.

A throng of young boys, no older than 11, swarmed around the ropes bordering the practice area as they watched Kai whip her driver through the air.

Most of them were wearing polos and matching shorts so brightly colored it was almost offensive to the eye. All of them sported caps emblazoned with ‘Trump,’ ‘MAGA,’ the name of one of the president’s many courses, or even the University of Miami logo – the school Kai publicly pledged to last summer, sharing the news with her 1.6 million Instagram followers.

When Kai briefly stepped away from the ball to check in with a Secret Service agent, her fan club pounced. They surged forward and the begging for a photo ensued.

It’s a request most teenagers are unaccustomed to fielding. Unless they’re a child film star, who’s really famous enough? Yet, Kai took it in her stride, gracefully posing as their mothers pleaded for, ‘One more, just one more,’ five times before the Secret Service began to circle.

It was the same herd of pre-pubescent boys who rushed after her over 18 holes, applauded every shot – the good, the bad, and the downright ugly – continuously darted across fairways and strayed where they were prohibited, much to the annoyance of the increasingly irate Secret Service.

After 11 holes, one agent finally cracked. ‘Buddy, where are your parents?,’ he hollered at one child. An excellent question. At this point, their mothers had long abandoned their children to the freedom of the fairways. Instead, they were lounging outside the halfway house where Chick-Fil-A was being served up and sipping on sweetened tea.

They were dressed in splashes of Masters green. Someone should have told them they were two weeks too early. And that it was the wrong tournament. And the completely wrong course. The hallowed ground of Augusta National was in fact 27 miles away, nestled across the Georgia border.

However, winners of the Junior Invitational do receive a blazer much like the victors of the major championship. Just Golden, rather than Green. Perhaps it would be better dubbed the Baby Masters.

And among those to have slipped into the Golden Jacket include current professional golf stars like Scottie Scheffler, Akshay Bhatia, Austin Eckroat, and LIV Golf’s Joaquin Niemann.

Yet, while Scheffler may have had his mugshot splashed across t-shirts at last year’s PGA Championship, it’s doubtful any of that star-studded cast of Tour graduates ever had their names bedazzled on headbands.

Six holes into Kai’s round, what can only be described as the Deep South golf scene’s answer to Jersey Shore’s Snookie descended on Sage Valley. Coincidentally, that’s when Kai’s performance started to go downhill.

Gaggles of around 20 golfing Barbies began filtering onto the course. They transformed the fairways into a catwalk, donning brightly colored Lilly Pulitzer shorts and skirts, crop tops or matching Lulu Lemon co-ord sets. It was enough to make LIV Golf’s allowance of shorts on the course look positively conservative.

Their hair was teased to the heavens. Heavy makeup and designer sunglasses adorned their faces. But most strikingly, Kai’s surname was bejeweled across various accessories.

But whether they were there for Kai and her famous family or Charlie Woods, who was one group ahead, was up for debate.

Charlie, the son of 15-time major winner Tiger Woods, headlined the event alongside Kai. He too drew a crowd, albeit one of a slightly older demographic, who likely grew up on the accomplishments of his dad.

Yet, if they expected any glimpses of his famous father, who only underwent surgery to repair a ruptured Achilles last week, they were sorely disappointed.

As were those flocking after Kai in the hope of a sighting of her dad Don Jr., or, better yet, her mother alongside Tiger.

Just last week, DailyMail.com exclusively revealed that Kai‘s mum Vanessa has been secretly dating Charlie‘s dad Tiger since Thanksgiving.

Despite the tittering of gossip flitting around Sage Valley, golf’s new power couple failed to make an appearance alongside their progeny.

Yet, Kai and Charlie still attracted a crowd – even if their parents and their golf’s great affair weren’t among them.

Kai may have slumped to rock-bottom of the leaderboard but no one would’ve guessed it based on the crowds. Just as her grandfather has a flair for doing at LIV Golf events, Kai found herself the center of attention.

But it’s no real surprise. After all, in South Carolina – a state that overwhelmingly voted for her grandfather’s return to the White House – she and her famous last name were the main attraction.