After building herself up into one of the biggest golf influencers in the world, Paige Spiranac has a lot to be proud of.

During a Q&A session on Instagram this week, Spiranac was asked if she is prouder of her Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover or her golf career.

She responded by detailing the pushback she overcame and the validation she felt from being chosen to appear on one of this year’s 60th anniversary “legends” covers of the iconic magazine.

“With Sports Illustrated and the cover, that one means so much to me because I was considered a ‘legend’ and, throughout my career, I’ve always been told ‘no, you can’t do this, don’t do this, you’re doing it the wrong way,’

All of these things and so, it was validation that throughout all of those hard times, it was worth it because when I look around at my ‘legend’ class, I can’t believe the women I’m surrounded with and it’s just really cool to be recognized in that way,” Spiranac responded during the live stream.