LPGA NOTEBOOK
Gulbis shoots for winning look
PITTSFORD — Amidst the glitz and the glam, one light shines brighter than all the bulbs in Hollywood for Natalie Gulbis: the glow of a win.
For Gulbis, who won her first LPGA tournament at the 2007 Evian Masters in France, being competitive at the Wegmans LPGA at Locust Hill is much more important than red carpets.
“My goal for the week was to shoot all four rounds under par,” Gulbis said. “I shot even the first day and I’d like another good solid round tomorrow.”
Because of her starlet-like beauty, reality show on the Golf Channel and swimsuit calendars, Gulbis has been compared to former tennis player, Anna Kournikova. Kournikova’s physical appearance far surpassed her success on the court, and while Gulbis said she has no problem being compared to someone as stunning as Kournikova, she is ready to establish her own identity.
“I love being compared to her — she’s beautiful,” Gulbis said of Kournikova. “I want people to just know me for being me. I think when they stop comparing you to somebody else, it’s a little bit better when they’re comparing them to you.”
Gulbis followed her opening 72 with two straight 69s to reach 6 under and share 10th place with LPGA money-leader Lorena Ochoa and South Korea’s Seon Hwa Lee. The trio is eight strokes behind leader Suzann Pettersen of Norway heading into today’s final round.
After being named LPGA’s 2002 Rookie of the Year, it took Gulbis nearly five years to win her first LPGA event. Last year she finished 12th on the money list. This season she is 48th on the list and she hasn’t had a top 10. But that could change today.
“With the way the weather’s been, the course has been very scorable,” Gulbis said. “If you shoot a good round then you can go out there and shoot a good 6-, 7-, 8-under round. It’s a lot of shots, but you never know.”
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If not for a very un-Laura Davies-like opening round, the all-time great would be right in the middle of this year’s tournament.
After starting with a 7-over-par 79 on Thursday, Davies shot a 6-under 66 on Friday followed by a 67 on Saturday to put her in a seven-way tie for 17th at 4 under. The only golfer to perform better than Davies in the last two rounds is leader Pettersen (65 and 67).
“I just had four bad holes on the first round,” said Davies, who has won 48 tournaments worldwide, including four LPGA majors. “I had a 9 on 11, four-putted 13 [for a double bogey], and a three-putt on another hole. I dropped six shots in three holes. It was crazy.”
Davies missed the cut in four of her nine events this year, including the last two. The last of her 20 LPGA wins came at the 2001 Wegmans LPGA.
“This is how I played the first round, really,” Davies said. “I hit 14 greens that first day and shot 7 over; I hit 14 greens [Friday] and shot 6 under. Today I think I hit 14 greens again and it’s 5 under. Doesn’t make sense.”
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Due to another poor forecast in the morning and a limited television window on ESPN2 in the afternoon (2-4
p. m.), the final round will be played in threesomes going off both the front and back nines. The first groups are scheduled to tee off at 9 a. m.; the leaders at 11 a. m. On Saturday, the players were paired up and all started on the front. . . . History says there will be a playoff today: Rochester playoffs took place in back-to-back years in 1983-84 and ’88-89; last year Ochoa won in a playoff.
jbradley@buffnews.com and kmcshea@buffnews.com
