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CN CANADIAN WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

August 9, 2006

Natalie Gulbis

LONDON, ONTARIO

DANA GROSS RHODE: Natalie, thanks for coming in and talking to us. What do you think about this week, are you excited to be in Canada?

NATALIE GULBIS: Absolutely. I came out about a month or so ago for an outing with CN. And we came out and it was fun because there was like six or seven players and this place was spectacular. They treated us so well and we got to go back to the tour and tell everybody how great it was over here and how great CN was and the city. What a great reception we had, and it only Pro Am day.

DANA GROSS RHODE: Wonderful, we'll take some questions.

Q. I was out there watching Lorie today and she's doing a lot with the fans and it's a big event for her, and yesterday I saw you signing a lot of autographs. Is there a point where you have to be worried about preparing for the golf tournament along with the more friendly side of being an LPGA player?

NATALIE GULBIS: No, not really because we you know, it only takes a few minutes out of our day to really sign stuff.

And I think you've got to keep it back in perspective that we would not be out here if it wasn't for you guys having interest to cover us and if it were not for the fans we would not get to play golf for a living. I don't think the players mind at all.

Q. Is this your week? Is this when you're going to finally do it?

NATALIE GULBIS: I thought every week was my week when I came out on Tour. For myself, I go out and prepare for every event to try to win the tournament and try to prepare the best I can and go out with the mentality, like you said that, it is your week. Sometimes it happens. Sometimes you play great. Sometimes it doesn't.

But you know, I'm excited about this week. I love the golf course. It could not be in any better shape. The weather is perfect. I think the buzz around with the players is that they are really excited to be here. I know we are excited to be back in Canada, and with the new sponsors, it's really exciting to have us, to.

Q. Could you talk about your season so far, are you happy where you are, where do you go from here to the next level?

NATALIE GULBIS: You know, very happy with my season. You try to take the positive stuff from every week, you know, with whatever. You try to learn something every round of golf out here, and then build on it and set new goals. I haven't won out here, so obviously my goal, I have some events left, so working towards trying to win a tournament.

One of my main goals for the season was to qualify for ADT. They have a new system out here where it's a two part season where you have to qualify. So I qualified for that in the first half. We have a lot of special events at the end of the year that you want to try to qualify for too.

Q. I was watching you on the putting green, and your putting grip

NATALIE GULBIS: It's huge over here that, hockey style putting.

Q. How long have you had that putting style, and has it been successful for you?

NATALIE GULBIS: For two years, I have putted with it. It's like a hockey stick, an open stance and I split my grip. It should be huge over year. I don't know why every single player that plays in Canada doesn't use it. It's called a hammy, one of those random things, with a very conventional putter. A company approached me about putting with it and I turned them down because it was so awkward and they kept putting back. I've putted well with it and I've used it for a couple years. I've played well and I've putted well with it.

Q. Did Lorie Kane influence you in coming up here?

NATALIE GULBIS: Oh, for sure. You guys have such a great spokesperson, or ambassador, more so, in Lorie Kane. She represents Canada so well. She represents the LPGA so well. She's one of those players that's so great to sponsor, she's so great to fans. She always has a smile on her face. You really get a sense that she loves what she does. And she now represents us on the player board, so she represents the players, kind of a voice for our tour.

Q. Now just wondering what you think the toughest part of the course is going to be this week.

NATALIE GULBIS: I think the rough is quite a bit higher than we expected it to be. Once you're in it, it's going to be pretty difficult. It's one of the purest golf courses we've had all year. They could set it up like a major if they wanted to. The greens are very, very big. If you are not on the right spot on these greens, you're going to be putting a lot; these going to be 50, 60 feet in length. The greens and the rough, the conditions are good, too. So that's definitely going to play in the favour of the players. If they are hitting the ball well, you're going to be able to score out here too.

Q. You're known as one of the more attractive players on Tour, and I have to ask this question because in the 70s Laura Baugh was on the Tour, and she might have been one of the first LPGA players to be known for her looks in addition to her golf. And if you read anything about her career, she faced resistance and jealousy from other players back in those days. Do you find that with yourself right now?

NATALIE GULBIS: When I came out the first year, I tested the waters a little bit with the calendar, and just with a whole bunch of different things. I think now with sports, our players are not afraid to be attractive and to be athletic and to be really good, too.

I think the whole marketing of women's sports has really changed because female athletes used to shy away from being known as feminine and being very good, and I think society has really changed that. It's changed it not only sports, but in corporate America and a lot of things. We have our first female Commissioner now.

Q. Obviously Jan Stephenson was one of the first known as the pioneer in that sort of thing. Have you ever had conversations with her?

NATALIE GULBIS: For sure. We just did a photo shoot with Sports Illustrated together, and she's a friend of mine. I've definitely looked at her marketing. And she's a great player, too. You can't short change her. She won majors out here and she was great for the Tour.

Q. Did she have any advice for you?

NATALIE GULBIS: Just a reminder to not shy away from the fact that you can be aggressive with your marketing and you can be proud of the stuff that you're doing.

Q. Is that a tricky spot, though, not to go too far? Is there a concern the calendar and so on have overshadowed your career?

NATALIE GULBIS: I think it was a little bit more my first year on Tour because I had a little more press from stuff outside of golf and I was pretty much a top 40 player.

Anybody out here, anybody that tees it up this week, these are the best players in the world, so any of them are great players.

Q. Best of luck in all your future endeavors.

NATALIE GULBIS: Thank you.

Q. Being so close from the event and being from London, there's a lot of the talk who is coming and who is not. You mentioned Lorie Kane's an influence, but is there much talk amongst the players as to when you are making your own schedule, do you think, are you going to such and such an event, is there much talk like that? And secondly, do you have any prediction on what will win the tournament?

NATALIE GULBIS: For sure there is. As soon as we got back from doing that outing, everybody wanted to know what's it like up there, what's the clubhouse like, what's the golf course like, all the little details: Where are you going to stay, are there any good restaurants around there, what are the fans like. The reception we got from the Media Day a month ago was unbelievable. We just went back with: You guys cannot wait to come up here, and CN is really rolling out the red carpet for us.

As far as planning a schedule, you guys have it a little tough going up against the best player in the world hosting an event during the same week. But this is still the LPGA. I think we really wanted to come out and support the players, and that's why you do have such a strong field.

As far as what could win this event, I think somebody could get hot on this golf course because the greens are so pure. I think that you're probably going to have to shoot in the high 60s every day to have a chance, unless the weather changes. It could get tough. They could tuck the pins to the sides and make the greens firm. It's in their hands what they want us to shoot out here. They could make it easy or make it rough on us.

Q. You're from Sacramento, California and you were a great amateur winning a few amateur titles in the California State area. How did you get involved in golf and what age was it and who were your role models when you were younger?

NATALIE GULBIS: My father got me involved when I was about four or five. I just used to love to be around my dad and he was on the golf course. So I didn't want to be with a baby sitter, I wanted to be with him. I grew up playing with him.

My role model in the sport was Nancy Lopez. I thought her smile was electrifying and just the way that she was so great to fans and she really loved what she did. Meg Mallon, Beth Daniel I was a huge fan of; and just other athletes, like Mia Hamm, and male athletes, too.

Q. A lot of the comments tend to ask about your looks and whatnot and people often times compare you to Annika Kournikova. Have you heard that before and does it grow tiresome?

NATALIE GULBIS: Yes, I have heard it before, but it's always flattering to be compared to someone that's attractive. So it's just flattering to be compared to somebody like that from a looks' standpoint.

End of FastScripts.

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