Gulbis Turns Up the Heat in Mexico

Turning in a bogey-free round, Natalie Gulbis soared into first place with a 6-under par 66, leading by two strokes over Carin Koch and Audra Burks. Only 17 out of a field of 127 LPGA pros played their round under par today, making Gulbis’ first round victory even more exciting. With only 4 rounds in the 60’s so far this season, perhaps it’s Natalie’s turn to break away from the pack and show us her game! Jack Nicklaus has designed this 6763 yard par-72 course to be lovely but dangerous… just like Natalie.

I met the 5’9″ blond haired, blue-eyed, 22-year old amazon, and she is a sight for sore eyes. Since the media uncovered her relationship with NFL rookie star Ben Roethlisberger, Natalie has made even more headlines than she did with her calendar and sexy look. Her pin-up calendar continues to sell well and she was recently appeared on FOX Sports’ “The Best Damn Sports Show.” Gulbis will also star in a new reality-based series about her life on the Golf Channel. And, you can even play a round of golf with Natalie. She is the first LPGA personality to appear in the “Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005” video game!

So, when does Natalie have time for golf? Her 2005 stats reflect a golfer who has been on tour for years, tied for 4th in number of birdies and tied for 8th in number of rounds under par. Out of five starts this season Gulbis has climbed into the top-10 rankings only once. Hopefully, Natalie can go all the way this weekend and grab an elusive victory. When asked about her thoughts on how she played today, Natalie replied, “It was good. I hit a lot of fairways and a lot of greens and had a lot of opportunities to make birdies. Hitting fairways is very important on this golf course and that made the course a little bit easier”.

Swede Carin Koch, in a tie for second with Audra Burks, carded five birdies with one bogey blip at the 10th for a 4-under par 68. When Audra was asked about her two chip-ins, she replied “all of the excitement was at the end of the front nine, which was on the backside because I teed off on ten. I eagled 17, birdied 18 and then almost eagled one. I knocked it to two inches on one. That pretty much made the round. It was kind of one of those days where I got all the right breaks.”

And, what happened to Lorena Ochoa today? Looking at her scorecard (73), you wouldn’t think that Ochoa came to her native country prepared to play. Faced with screaming fans waiting for her to rally, however, the second hole was the last time Ochoa would see a negative number on her card. Although she did birdie four additional holes during today’s round, the Mexican double bogeyed the 4th and scored an additional four bogeys throughout her round.

A final birdie at the 18th, however, filled Lorena with relief as she tied with 11 others for 26th position. When asked if she felt the pressure of all of her Mexican fans cheering for her, Lorena responded, “I think there was more pressure in Bosque Real because it was the first tournament in Mexico. This week I feel a lot more comfortable and relaxed. I did not start the best way. I wanted to go lower but Bosque Real helped me a lot to learn how to control pressure. I look at pressure this week, but I think it is in a good way”.

Rookie Paula Creamer (70) is in contention just four strokes off the lead. Annika’s sister, Charlotta, is tied for 10th with a 71. Perhaps she can fill her older sister’s shoes this week and battle it out with Gulbis?

Pos  Player                     Today    Tot    R1
1     Natalie Gulbis              -6      -6    66
T2    Carin Koch                  -4      -4    68
T2    Audra Burks                 -4      -4    68    
T4    Maria Hjorth                -3      -3    69
T4    Nancy Scranton              -3      -3    69
T4    Giulia Sergas               -3      -3    69
T7    Young Jo                    -2      -2    70
T7    Tina Barrett                -2      -2    70
T7    Paula Creamer               -2      -2    70
T10   Marisa Baena                -1      -1    71
T10   Young Kim                   -1      -1    71
T10   Angela Stanford             -1      -1    71
T10   Chris Johnson               -1      -1    71
T10   Dawn Coe-Jones              -1      -1    71
T10   Dorothy Delasin             -1      -1    71
T10   Wendy Ward                  -1      -1    71                                        
T10   Charlotta Sorenstam         -1      -1    71

Photo Credit: © PinkSwing.com.