Gianna Clemente needed a waiver from LPGA Tour Commissioner Craig Kessler to tee it up this week at Final Qualifying, and through two rounds, the 17-year-old is making the most of the opportunity she was granted to vie for an LPGA Tour card in Lower Alabama.

The Floridian, who

announced she was turning professional

 on Nov. 5, opened her week at Magnolia Grove – RTJ Golf Trail with a 1-over 72 on the Falls Course, making one bogey and 17 pars to kick off her Final Qualifying debut, a steady, respectable first round effort at what can be a challenging venue.

Saturday’s second round then saw the teenager turn up the heat in rainy, frigid conditions, carding a bogey-free 5-under 67. It was a day-two effort in which Clemente made back-to-back birdies on the par-5 16th and par-3 17th holes on her opening nine and later closed out her round by picking up three more birdies in a four-hole stretch from Nos. 3 to 6 on the Crossings Course.

Clemente climbed from T65 to T12 with her performance in round two, and now, not only is she well inside the top-65 cutoff to advance to the fifth and final round of Final Qualifying that is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 9, but Gianna is also well-positioned to earn LPGA Tour membership on her first attempt with just 54 holes remaining at the final leg of the 2025 LPGA Qualifying Series.

“It’s been really great,” Clemente said of her experience over the first 36 holes of Final Qualifying. “Obviously, some tough conditions, especially today. It rained probably for twelve holes straight today, so that was a little bit difficult. I played average yesterday. Just kind of a solid round, didn’t really get anything going, but got the putter going today, which was nice.”

Clemente is one of several athletes in the field this week who began their Q-School journey all the way back at Pre-Qualifying in September. A T4 showing at the Texas Pre-Qualifying site saw Clemente advance to Qualifying in October, and she secured her spot at Final Qualifying after tying for 39th at Plantation Golf and Country Club in Venice, Fla.

But in order to tee it up in Mobile, Ala., Clemente had to both turn professional and be granted a waiver to compete by the LPGA because she will not be 18 years of age until March 2026, two requirements she ultimately met well before the Nov. 14 deadline.

And while the young talent is making her first attempt at earning LPGA Tour membership via the LPGA Qualifying Series this year, Clemente is far from inexperienced when it comes to holding her own alongside the world’s best athletes.

Her star quickly rose in 2022 when a then 14-year-old Gianna Monday qualified for three straight LPGA Tour events – the CPKC Women’s Open, the Dana Open and the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G. Clemente has since played in seven additional LPGA tournaments, two of which were major championships, the 2025 Chevron Championship and the 2025 Amundi Evian Championship, and her career-best LPGA Tour finish is a tie for 30th that she recorded at the Honda LPGA Thailand in February.

She has also competed a few times on the Epson Tour, most notably going toe-to-toe with eventual 2025 Player and Rookie of the Year Melanie Green at the Guardian Championship this past September, ultimately finishing solo second to Green after a dramatic five-hole playoff in Prattville, Ala.

So even though she is relatively unfamiliar with the grind that is Final Qualifying, Clemente has plenty of experience teeing it up alongside high-level professional golfers on which to lean during what can be a stressful week of competition.

And while she is certainly drawing on the confidence gleaned from over a dozen starts in pro tournaments over the past four seasons, Clemente is also looking to those around her for support as she works to make her lifelong dream of an LPGA Tour card come true over the next few days in Lower Alabama.

“It’s a long event for sure, and obviously, I’ve already played two (rounds) as well, so it’s been pretty difficult,” Clemente said. “But I just rely on my team for the most part. I have an amazing caddie [her father, Patrick Clemente], and my mom’s here this week as well. So, I’ve just been relying on my team.”