Golf Career
Born and raised in the Sacramento, California area, Gulbis started finding interest in the game at the early age of four. By the time she reached age seven, she had won her first tournament, and at age ten, she reports she was breaking par.
She played in her first LPGA Tour event in 1997 as an amateur at the age of 14 (handicap of 2). Gulbis was the top player on the boys golf team at Granite Bay High School and graduated at age 16. She then accepted a golf scholarship to the University of Arizona, the 2000 national champions, where she was a teammate of fellow freshman, Lorena Ochoa. After one season at Arizona, Gulbis left college in Tucson to turn professional in July 2001 at age 18. At the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament in October 2001 at Daytona Beach, Florida, Gulbis finished tied for third to earn her card for the 2002 season.
Although Gulbis did not win a tournament until her sixth season on tour, she finished sixth on the LPGA money list in her fourth season with over $1 million in earnings in 2005. She placed in the top 10 in four consecutive major championships from the 2005 LPGA Championship to the 2006 Kraft Nabisco Championship.
Her first professional win came at the July 2007 Evian Masters in France, where she defeated Jeong Jang in a playoff. Gulbis tapped in for a two-putt birdie on the first extra hole to claim the winner's prize of $450,000.
Gulbis has played on three victorious U.S. Solheim Cup teams - 2005, 2007, and 2009.
Read more about this topic: Natalie Gulbis
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