Natalie Gulbis interview on May 18, after the first round in the Sybase Classic 2006.
Question to Natalie Gulbis: Can you talk about the conditions of the course, was it a factor, not a factor on your overall game?
Natalie Gulbis: Definitely got windy today. It was not crazy but it was tough. The rough is up. Some pin placements are kind of on ridges.
Q. You were 5 under on the last 11 holes. Can you talk about that run that you had there?
Natalie Gulbis: I got off to kind of a I mean, didn’t really do anything. 3 putted, missed a green, then I actually holed out on No. 8 with a wedge, and that changed my momentum and I played well on the back nine.
Q. Are you getting more and more comfortable with yourself, putting yourself in contention?
Natalie Gulbis: I think just every week you get a little bit more comfortable out here and just the experience.
Q. Does it course find of fit your eye?
Natalie Gulbis: I like this course because it plays like a major. I always like playing in majors, and it’s stuff. Players are not going to be able to shoot 62, 63 out here. I know the weather is supposed to get tough the next couple of days, so I like that.
Q. You say it plays like a major, judging by the field, it’s almost like a major field. With all of the talk about the new wave, old wave, in the middle, do you feel that a win here would validate you and basically strike a blow for the young people against the veterans or is it immaterial?
Natalie Gulbis: Immaterial. Immaterial, sorry. (Laughing).
Q. Do you think this whole thing is overblown?
Natalie Gulbis: I think it’s just so cool right now because there are exciting young players, and there’s great veteran players and we still have the No. 1 player in the world being Annika Sorenstam who is here this week.
There’s just so many cool stories happening right now with the LPGA Tour. Any week, you can have a Hall of Famer going up against a rookie because our tour is so deep now.
Q. Inaudible?
Natalie Gulbis: She’s a good friend of mine and we were in the rookie race the first year. You know how golf is. She’s a good player and I don’t think there was any question she would be back.
Q. When things were tough for her, were you 10 offer encouraging words?
Natalie Gulbis: Yeah, we’re really close and she calls me after every rounds and we look forward to seeing each other. We were pretty close our first year on Tour.
Q. The last few years, the quality of play was dramatically risen, do you attribute that to more people taking up the game and excelling at it or what do you think is the primary reason why there are more younger players coming up now and making a name for themselves as a young age?
Natalie Gulbis: Golf has been so popular the last couple of years and gotten more national exposure. It’s cool to play golf now and be a female. There’s so many more opportunities; in high school, young girls are starting to play more and more now.
Q. Can you talk us through the last four holes?
Natalie Gulbis: I hit a 20 foot eagle putt on 16 that I missed.
Then on 16, I actually fanned a 5 iron to the right and chipped in.
17, I pushed a driver right and was able to make bogey.
Q. In the rough on 16?
Natalie Gulbis: Rough.
The inagural Lexus Cup 2005 held at Tanah Merah Country Club in Singapore from 9 ~ 11 Dec 2005 ended in favour of the international team who win eight of 12 singles matches for a 16-8 victory.