In the end, it was the talent of a 20-year-old German, Helen Briem, that rose to the top of the final leaderboard in the LPGA Tour Q-Series Final Qualifying Tuesday at the Robert Trent Jones Trail Magnolia Grove’s Crossing Course in Mobile, Ala.
But you have to have talent just to reach the Q-Series Final Qualifying and the list of 31 players who earned playing privileges on the LPGA Tour for 2026 proved that point.
Final Qualifying was scheduled to be five rounds, was shortened to four rounds and felt like six, at least. There was rain and cold and a round-and-half Monday followed by a sprint of between seven and 11 holes Tuesday.
Final Qualifying is always an emotional roller-coaster and this one was no different with the weather adding its own extra touch to the proceedings.
Briem, who had finished ninth in the Ladies European Tour (LET) Order of Merit to earn her spot in the field at Magnolia Grove, had led after two rounds and trailed Jing Yan of China by a shot with 11 holes to go in the final round at the Crossings Course when play was suspended Monday by darkness.
Briem’s final round had started on the back nine at the Crossings Course Monday and she had completed seven holes in 1-under par.
The 6-foot-3 bomber made the turn to the front nine at the Crossings Course Tuesday morning and went off, rattling off birdies at the third, fifth and sixth holes. She stumbled briefly with a bogey at the seventh hole, but made one more birdie at eight to complete a 3-under 33 tour of the outgoing nine at the Crossings Course and a 4-under 68 that gave her medalist honors with a 13-under 273 total.
Nearly as impressive was the last two rounds put together by runnerup Soo Bin Joo, a talented young South Korean.
After completing a sparkling 7-under 64 at the Falls Course Monday morning, the 21-year-old Bin Joo was 1-under through seven holes of her final round at the Crossings Course when play was suspended Monday afternoon.
After making a birdie at the 10th hole to get to 8-under for the tournament, Bin Joo ripped off consecutive birdies at 13, 14, 15 and 16 to complete a 6-under 66 that earned her runnerup honors, a shot behind Briem with a 12-under 274 total.
Ryann O’Toole, the 38-year-old American, hadn’t been forced to endure Final Qualifying since 2014, but she responded like the veteran she is.
She had gone 3-under on the incoming nine at the Crossings Course to open her final round. O’Toole then made birdies on the first, fourth, sixth and ninth holes in the resumption of her round Tuesday to complete a 7-under 65 that left her among a group of four players tied for third place 11-under 275.
Yan of China had held a one-shot lead when darkness fell Monday night and after an early wakeup call Tuesday, she completed a 4-under 68 at the Crossings Course that left her in a tie for third place with O’Toole, country woman Mohan Du and French veteran Perrine Delacour at 11-under.
Du, who played on the Epson Tour this year, had been hanging around near the top of the leaderboard ever since opening with a 6-under 66 at the Crossings Course Friday. Du was even-par through eight holes when play was suspended Monday night and proceeded to blitz the front nine at the Crossings Course with five birdies against a bogey as she matched Yan’s final round of 4-under 68 to earn a share of third place.
The 31-year-old Delacour, who has split time on both the LPGA Tour and the LET during her career, was 1-over for her final round when play was suspended Monday. She calmly made three birdies and six pars on the front nine at the Crossings Course for a closing 2-under 70 that enabled her to join the group at 11-under.
Really nice effort by Laney Frye, a native of Nicholsville, Ky. who starred at Kentucky, to head a group of three players tied for seventh place at 10-under 276.
Frye, coming off a solid rookie season on the Epson Tour, completed a 3-under 68 Monday morning at the Falls Course and was 1-under through 11 holes at the Crossings Course to sneak into the top 10 when play was suspended late in the afternoon. Three birdies in her final seven holes Tuesday morning sealed the deal.
Frye was joined at 10-under by a couple of talented South Korean youngsters, 22-year-old Juniper Jang and 21-year-old Dongeun Lee.
Jang was 2-under for her final round with eight holes to play at the Crossings Course and she made three birdies on the outgoing nine at the Crossings Course to close with a 5-under 67.
Lee, who had the lead following the disjointed third round that started Sunday and was completed Monday, was 1-over through 10 holes when play was halted Monday evening and she went 1-under in her final eight holes to match par with a 72 that enabled her to join the group at 10-under.
Nobody made a bigger move in the final round than Polly Mack, a 26-year-old from Germany who played college golf at UNLV and Alabama.
Not exactly sure if Mack started off the front or the back for her final round. On the outgoing nine at the Crossings Course, Mack rattled off three straight birdies at the second, third and fourth holes and added birdies at six, seven and nine for a sizzling front-nine 30.
On the incoming nine, Mack made birdies at the 10th and 13th holes, gave a shot back with a bogey at 15 and added one more birdie at 16, the ninth of her round as she recorded a spectacular 8-under 64 that left her among a group of five players tied for 10th place at 8-under 278.
More importantly, Mack, a veteran of several Final Qualifying efforts, went from seemingly no shot to finish among the top 25 to making plans for some starts on the LPGA Tour in 2026.
Mack was joined at 8-under by Natasha Nadaud, a 21-year-old from France, Kokona Sakurai, a 21-year-old from Japan, Leah John, a 25-year-old from Canada and 23-year-old Camille Boyd, a native of Yorba Linda, Calif. who played her college golf at Washington.
Nadaud closed with a 2-under 70 at the Crossings Course to get her share of 10th place.
Sakurai was 2-under through eight holes for her final round and went 1-over the rest of the way for a final round of 1-under 71 to get it in at 8-under.
John, coming off a solid season on the Epson Tour, had grabbed the lead with an opening round of 8-under 64 at the Crossings Course. She closed with a 1-over 73 at the Crossings Course to easily earn her LPGA Tour card.
Boyd, another solid Epson Tour performer this year, was steady in the midst of all the rain and cold and starts and stops as she finished up with an even-par 72 to earn her share of 10th place.
I imagine there was a bit of celebrating for the three members of the Wake Forest starting lineup when the Demon Deacons defeated Southern California in the NCAA Championship’s Final Match at Graystone Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. in the spring of 2023 who got through Final Qualifying Tuesday.
Lauren Walsh, a 25-year-old from Ireland, and Carolina Lopez-Chacarra, a 22-year-old Spaniard, finished among the group tied for 17th place at 6-under 286. Mimi Rhodes, a 23-year-old from England, qualified for the LPGA Tour on the number as she was part of an eight-way logjam tied for 24th place at 5-under 281.
Walsh, who played on Great Britain & Ireland teams in the Curtis Cup in 2021 at Conwy Golf Club in Caernarvonshire, Wales and in 2022 at Merion Golf Club’s historic East Course, came on strong with a final round of 5-under 67 at the Crossings Course.
Lopez-Chacarra remained an amateur long enough to represent Spain in the Women’s World Amateur Team Championship in October in Singapore. Spain finished in a tie atop the leaderboard with South Korea and the United States, but the US of A got to hoist the Espirito Santo Trophy in a tiebreaker.
Now, Lopez-Chacarra is headed for the LPGA Tour after a solid showing at Magnolia Grove as she closed with a 3-under 69 at the Crossings Course.
Rhodes, a member of the winning GB&I Curtis Cup team in the summer of 2024 at Sunningdale Golf Club in Berkshire, England, won three times on her first full year on the LET this year.
A 5-under 66 at the Falls Course in a third round that started Sunday afternoon and finished Monday morning gave Rhodes a shot and she matched par in the final round at the Crossings Course with a 72 that earned her playing privileges on the LPGA Tour for 2026.
I was rooting for Gianna Clemente, the 17-year-old from Estero, Fla. via Warren, Ohio, to bring her talent to the LPGA Tour, but that will have to wait for a little while.
I was checking the live scoring from time to time Tuesday and Clemente, who Monday qualified for three straight LPGA events as a 14-year-old in 2022, was at 4-under with just a few holes to go in her final round, needing a birdie to join the group that got through on the number at 5-under.
Clemente, however, finished with a double bogey at the ninth hole at the Crossings Course for a final round of 1-under 71 that left her with a 2-under 284 total in her professional debut.
Clemente knew going in that she would have status on the Epson Tour for 2026 and she sounded willing to get her feet wet at the professional level on the LPGA’s developmental tour.
But you’ll be hearing from Clemente before long. She’s been biding her time as an amateur for more than a year. The next time Clemente tees it up in competition, she’ll be getting paid for her efforts.
Samantha Wagner, the Easton native who played her college golf at Florida, also came up short in her bid to earn an LPGA Tour card. Wagner closed with a 1-over 73 at the Crossings Course and finished in the group tied for 48th place with an even-par 286 total.
Wagner made significant strides in 2025, earning her first professional victory in the FireKeepers Casino Resort Championship at Battle Creek Country Club in Michigan on the Epson Tour. You’ll see a more experienced, battle-tested Sam Wagner on the Epson Tour in 2026.
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