Natalie Gulbis Biography
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Natalie Gulbis
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| Natalie Gulbis | |
|---|---|
 Natalie Gulbis at the 2008 LPGA Championship |
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| Personal information | |
| Full name | Natalie Anne Gulbis |
| Born | January 7, 1983 Sacramento, California, U.S. |
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) |
| Nationality |  United States |
| Residence | Lake Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. |
| Career | |
| College | University of Arizona (one year) |
| Turned professional | 2001 |
| Current tour(s) | LPGA (joined 2002) |
| Former tour(s) | Futures Tour (joined 2001) |
| Professional wins | 3 |
| Number of wins by tour | |
| LPGA Tour | 1 |
| Other | 2 |
| Best results in LPGA Major Championships |
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| Kraft Nabisco C'ship | T3: 2006 |
| LPGA Championship | T5: 2005 |
| U.S. Women's Open | T4: 2005 |
| Women's British Open | T8: 2005 |
| Achievements and awards | |
| William and Mousie Powell Award |
2007 |
Natalie Anne Gulbis (born January 7, 1983) is an American professional golfer who plays on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour.
Contents |
Golf career
Gulbis started finding interest in the game at the early age of 3-1/2citation needed. By the time she reached 7 years old she had won her first tournamentcitation needed. In three years, at age 10, she was breaking parcitation needed.
She played in her first LPGA tour event as an amateur at the age of 14 (handicap of 2). She attended Granite Bay High School and graduated when she was 16. She turned professional at age 18 after playing for one season on the women's golf team at the University of Arizona.
Gulbis did not win a tournament in the first five years of her professional career but still finished sixth on the LPGA money list in 2005 with over $1 million (U.S.) in earnings and played on the winning United States Solheim Cup team. She placed in the top 10 in four consecutive major championships from the 2005 LPGA Championship to the 2006 Kraft Nabisco Championship.
Gulbis' first professional win came in 2007 at the Evian Masters where she defeated Jeong Jang in a playoff to claim the winner's share of the $3,000,000 purse.
Personal life, business and media
Gulbis has two younger brothers named George and Charlie Innocent. She is considered to be a sex symbol in the LPGA. She released a 2005 calendar, just before the 2004 U.S. Women's Open, which featured her not only playing golf, but also in striking poses in swimwear. The United States Golf Association (USGA) barred it from being sold at the event, deeming it inappropriate. The calendar was sold openly at Golf Canada; the USGA was criticized for overreacting. Gulbis also posed for the November 2004 issue of the magazine FHM, an issue that also gave away a chance to play golf with her at her home course, the Lake Las Vegas Resort, where her calendar photo shoot took place. Gulbis has said that she likes the attention she gets, even if it is for her appearance; she has endorsement deals with RSM McGladrey, TaylorMade Golf, Adidas, Canon, Michelob Ultra, SkyCaddie, Payment Data Systems, MasterCard, Winn Golf Grips, Lake Las Vegas Resort and EA Sports.
In 2006, Gulbis began writing a monthly advice column in FHM. In November 2005, a reality television show, The Natalie Gulbis Show, made its debut on The Golf Channel. The show had its second season premiere on October 18, 2006. Gulbis has also appeared on the 2007 version of Tiger Woods PGA Tour by EA Sports along with fellow professionals Annika Sörenstam, Ian Poulter and Luke Donald, among others. In August 2007 Gulbis appeared on the August/September cover of Sactown Magazine in an article that profiled the rising star's busy life of product endorsements and photo shoots, though no pro win. Gil Ozir, Vice President of Marketing for Raymond Weil, a luxury watchmaker and one of Gulbis' endorsement deals, was quotedcitation needed as saying, "Once she starts winning, she's going to be a megastar". A few days later, Gulbis won the Evian Masters, her first professional LPGA title.
In 2009, she appeared in the second season of Celebrity Apprentice.1 Throughout the season, each celebrity raised money for a charity of their choice; Gulbis selected the Boys and Girls Club.2 She was fired on the April 19, 2009 episode of the show.
Gulbis also appeared on the April 28, 2009 episode of The Price Is Right as a Showcase theme. She also appeared in Hole in One to do the game's "inspiration putt".
Professional wins (3)
LPGA Tour (1)
- 2007 (1) Evian Masters
Other wins (2)
- 2007 (1) Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge (with Cristie Kerr and Morgan Pressel, unofficial event)
- 2009 (1) Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge (with Cristie Kerr and Suzann Pettersen, unofficial event)
Results in LPGA majors
| Tournament | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kraft Nabisco Championship | DNP | DNP | T48 | T58 | T17 | T3 | CUT | T13 | T46 |
| LPGA Championship | DNP | T15 | T20 | T61 | T5 | T20 | DNP | CUT | T21 |
| U.S. Women's Open | T34 | CUT | T13 | T37 | T4 | T16 | T35 | CUT | DNP |
| Women's British Open | DNP | T13 | CUT | T13 | T8 | T16 | T23 | T9 | CUT |
DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = withdrew
"T" tied
Green background for a win. Yellow background for a top-10 finish.
LPGA Tour career summary
| Year | Tournaments played |
Cuts made |
Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top 10s | Best finish |
Official Earnings ($) |
Money list rank |
Scoring average |
Scoring rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | MC | n/a | n/a | 82.50 | n/a |
| 1998 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | MC | n/a | n/a | 80.00 | n/a |
| 2001 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | T34 | n/a | n/a | 73.0 | n/a |
| 2002 | 26 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | T5 | 257,310 | 39 | 72.34 | |
| 2003 | 26 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | T12 | 251,562 | 39 | 71.91 | |
| 2004 | 27 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | T7 | 277,093 | 42 | 71.72 | 36 |
| 2005 | 27 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 12 | T3 | 1,010,154 | 6 | 71.24 | 5 |
| 2006 | 26 | 25 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 693,968 | 16 | 71.00 | 9 |
| 2007 | 22 | 19 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 886,404 | 12 | 72.21 | 28 |
| 2008 | 20 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | T9 | 266,237 | 56 | 72.03 | 41 |
| 2009 | 13 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | T7 | 225,778 | 37 | 71.23 | 19 |
- Official as of July 13, 2009
References
External links
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