Natalie Gulbis
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Natalie Anne Gulbis (born January 7, 1983) is a Latvian-American professional golfer. She was born in Sacramento, California, and played in her first LPGA event as an amateur at the age of 14. She turned professional at age 18 after playing for one season on the women's golf team at the University of Arizona. She is the stepsister of American golf semi-professional Mason Monsevais.
Gulbis is considered to be one of the LPGA's sex symbols. When she released her calendar for 2005 just before the 2004 U.S. Women's Open, which featured Gulbis in different pictures that showed her playing golf, in addition to striking poses in swimwear, the United States Golf Association (USGA) barred it from being sold at the event, deeming it inappropriate, though the calendar was sold very 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 Taylor Made Golf, Adidas, Canon, Amstel Light, and Lake Las Vegas Resort
In 2006, Gulbis began writing a monthly golf 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.
On the course, Gulbis has yet to win a tournament, although she has come very close, losing in a playoff to Mi Hyun Kim at the 2006 Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic. Despite this, in 2005 she finished sixth on the LPGA money list 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.
[edit] LPGA Tour wins
none to date.
[edit] Results in LPGA majors
| Tournament | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kraft Nabisco Championship | DNP | DNP | T48 | T58 | T17 | T3 |
| LPGA Championship | DNP | T15 | T20 | T61 | T5 | T20 |
| U.S. Women's Open | T34 | CUT | T13 | T37 | T4 | T16 |
| Women's British Open | DNP | T13 | CUT | T13 | T8 | T16 |
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.
