U.S. GIRLS' JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP

July 22, 2022

Gianna Clemente

The Club at Olde Stone

Press Conference

Q. Eight birdies in 13 holes; how good is that? I know you've won events, but this is the semifinals of a national championship.

GIANNA CLEMENTE: You know, I really wasn't thinking about it. Honestly I didn't even know that I was 8-under. I wasn't thinking about that. I was just thinking about the putt that I was over or the shot that I was over. I wasn't really thinking how many under can I get.

Obviously it was nice that all the putts dropped today. I know it's not always going to be like that, so it's always nice when you can get a lot of birdies.

Q. Was there a point early in the match where you felt like, wow, this could be a really good round? Did you feel it in your warm-up session after lunch or early on today?

GIANNA CLEMENTE: I felt really good in my warm-up. I felt like I was going to play good either way. The girl I was playing against kind of got off to a shaky start, which kind of gave me an open door to make a bunch of birdies, and then she got it back on track and she started really, really topping my birdies, and I was like, okay, this is how it's going to be. Through four or five holes I was already 3-up, and I was like, I'm in control, and I was just trying to go as deep as possible.

Q. It's a long day out there; how do you mentally keep yourself into this thing, given what's at stake and the conditions?

GIANNA CLEMENTE: Yeah, it's definitely difficult. I'm really tired right now. I'm looking forward to going back and sleeping.

I think it's just wanting to be here so bad and wanting to perform at the best level.

I know I have it in me. I know I can beat everybody here. I just played really well today, and I was just really focused on every shot and every hole. I wasn't getting ahead of myself. I think just like staying in the moment is really important.

Q. Now you've got yourself at least one nice perk, a trip to Seattle.

GIANNA CLEMENTE: Yeah.

Q. There's another big one at stake tomorrow for 36 holes. How do you keep yourself, stay focused, realizing what's at the end of the road is obviously very nice -- you're a champion, Women's Open, all the other things that come with it?

GIANNA CLEMENTE: Yeah, it's kind of always in the back of my mind. Obviously you want all of those things, but it's 36 holes tomorrow. That's so much golf and so much can happen.

I'm just going to try and, again, stay in the moment and not get ahead of myself because if I get ahead of myself, start thinking way too much, and it just never goes right when you do that.

Q. It's looking like it possibly could be Yana. She's 2-up. Have you ever played with her before or do you know her pretty well?

GIANNA CLEMENTE: Oh, yeah. Me and Yana used to be four-ball partners. We never actually qualified, but we tried to qualify for a couple years, and I've been friends with Yana for a really long time. It'll be super fun. Obviously we're both really competitive.

She's an amazing player, very proven player. I'd be looking forward to playing with her.

Q. A 14-year-old and a 15-year-old in the final; what's that say about the state of girls' golf right now?

GIANNA CLEMENTE: Yeah, both definitely really young. Is Yana still 15?

Q. She's 15, yeah.

GIANNA CLEMENTE: Yeah, we're both really young.

Q. You would be the fifth youngest champion. There's been three 13 year olds.

GIANNA CLEMENTE: Yeah. I'm used to that.