LPGA Pro of the Week - Week of 2/8/10

Okay fine, here’s the profile all you pervs in blogland were waiting for. Ranked 59th in the world American LPGAer Natalie Gulbis, for better or worse, is one of the most recognizable faces on the ladies Tour. Diagnosed with maybe just a slight case of Anna Kournikova syndrome, she is known primarily for being the hottest little treat on the LPGA Tour. But there is more than meets the eye when it comes to Natalie. She may have an odd putting stance and a dippy-hitch in her golf swing, but there’s no denying that she’s got game.

Natalie grew up in Sacramento, California where she played high school golf, but found a way to graduate at age 16 where she went off to college at the University of Arizona. She only spent one year in Tucson and decided to turn pro in 2001 at the age of 18. She made 27 starts in her first full season in 2002, and through the 2006 season she had been known for being the best player on Tour without a victory. But that changed in 2007 where she won on international soil at the Evian Masters, one of the biggest non-major tour stops.

To date this victory is still her only LPGA win, although she has had many close calls. Natalie has also found small success in major championships. She has recorded at least one top 10 in each of the four majors in her career, topped by a 3rd place finish in the 2006 Kraft Nabisco. But she is still waiting to win the big one. In 2009 she battled injury and had her least profitable season only making 12 starts and recording just over 220,000 in earnings, although she was a member of the winning Solheim Cup team.

Natalie’s image and beauty is one thing that has kept her place in golf and formed her place in pop-culture. She had her own reality show on the Golf Channel recording her day-to-day life at her Las Vegas home. Natalie has also made many other TV appearances on hit shows like CSI Miami and Celebrity Apprentice. The forecast for Gulbis’ Tour success in 2010 is very unclear. I think if she is healthy and ready to play she has the game to have a very profitable season. Unlike Kournikova, Natalie has the talent and more importantly, the want-to to cash in on another victory or even her first major.