Olivia Cowan: “Playing alongside the men will push the women’s golf.”

July 27, 2021

Olivia Cowan

Northern Ireland

Galgorm Castle & Massereene Golf Club
Quick Quotes

Q. The pandemic postponed this a year, but we’re finally at Galgorm in the ISPS Honda World Invitational. What is it like to be finally at this tri-sanctioned event?

OLIVIA COWAN:

Yeah, it’s great to be back. Obviously I was here two years ago in 2019, and it was a really fun event then. It’s really fun to be back. Obviously it’s great playing with the men here, as well. It’s great to see them practice and just chat, as well, because we don’t see them that often. So yeah, it’s good to be back.

Q. What makes an event like this where you’ve got a men’s group, you’ve got a women’s group, kind of alternating each round, what makes it unique and special when you’re competing?

OLIVIA COWAN:

Well, I played the Vic Open a few times, and it’s basically the same format, so I think it’s just cool to mix. I think it’s great for fans, as well. Obviously you can watch the men and you can watch the women at the same time. I think that’s really good.
I think it’s good for women’s golf, as well, because I think obviously us playing alongside the men, it will push the women’s golf, as well, so I think that’s a great thing, as well.

Q. You’re a Modest Golf ambassador, client. What’s it like to have been working with them and when did you first start working with them?

OLIVIA COWAN:

So I started working with them last year, and it’s been really good, to be fair. I’m really happy with Modest Golf. The team is amazing. They put a lot of work into helping me become the best, and yeah, they’re just all in all really great.

Q. When you looked at signing with them, what was it about the organization that made you feel comfortable or maybe some values that they had that align with yourself?

OLIVIA COWAN:

What I really liked about Modest is that they weren’t just trying to help their players but they were in general trying to do more for golf, more for women’s golf, which I really liked. They obviously tried to always help in some aspect somewhere, obviously putting on these events, and just supporting us really well, like all the players. That’s what I really liked.
And then just talking to them, like they’re all really friendly, and yeah, it was just like a no-brainer really.

Q. Does being a part of the Modest Golf family make this week even more special for you?

OLIVIA COWAN:

Yeah, definitely, because it’s basically like playing at home kind of because you’ve just got all the support. Yeah, I definitely feel very comfortable here.

Q. I talked with Angel Yin earlier today and she mentioned the story of how she got in touch with you and how you convinced her to join the team. Can you take us through your side of the story, just kind of how Angel became involved with Modest, as well?

OLIVIA COWAN:

So basically she sent me a message on Instagram — obviously when I announced that I’m now with Modest, she then sent me a message straight away and said, “take me with you.” I then basically said, Yeah, what’s happening with your management, and I basically said you should get in touch with Modest, and she did, and Modest were interested, and that’s how it basically came about, so now we’re sisters, same management.

Q. Have you ever been to Northern Ireland besides two years ago?

OLIVIA COWAN:

I think I’ve played an amateur event here, as well.

Q. Do you remember the amateur event at all?

OLIVIA COWAN:

It might have been like a British Open.

Q. Am?

OLIVIA COWAN:

British Ladies Am.

Q. You won this year on the LET, the inaugural Aramco in London?

OLIVIA COWAN:

Yeah.

Q. Take us through your team and just kind of the excitement of that event and how you found your way to the top of the leaderboard.

OLIVIA COWAN:

Yeah, so I was actually really lucky that I could pick one of my friends, so my strategy this time was just a lot different. I wasn’t going on who was playing well. I was just basically I just wanted to pick a friend and just have a good time out there, and it worked out, so I picked Serena, Serena Schmidt, who’s one of my good friends, and then we just got really lucky with our third pick, as well, Diksha. She’s obviously a great player, and we just got on really well as a team, and I think that’s what really helped us win. We weren’t thinking about the individual event, we were all just trying to help each other win the team event, and it helped out.

Q. Was there an individual aspect to it or just a whole team?

OLIVIA COWAN:

There is an individual event besides the team event, but the team event is the bigger event. Yeah, we were just going out there to have some fun and basically just try and win the team event.

Q. How does an event like that or a win like that help you as the season goes on?

OLIVIA COWAN:

I think it’s helped massively. I think it’s given me some confidence, as well. Obviously I’ve been close on the LET for a few times now over the past five years, and yeah, I think coming down that stretch we needed to obviously score some more birdies, and yeah, I think that’s definitely helped winning that, as well, building up my confidence going forward.

Q. Speaking of confidence, I would imagine you have some having competed in a major championship last week. What was it like to be at Evian, to play in the Evian Championship, and how did that boost the engines for this event?

OLIVIA COWAN:

Yeah, obviously it was my first Evian major, so that was really cool. The weather was amazing, so that helped. Definitely made the week good.

Yeah, it was just a really good experience, obviously, to play with the LPGA girls and just basically see how they set it up. Obviously they would set it up very different to how we would play it on the LET, which I think was — it was difficult in some places, but it was a challenge for sure, and it was just really cool to play there.

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