Erica Blasberg
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Erica Blasberg (born July 14, 1984) is an American golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour. She was born in Orange, California and now lives in Corona, California.
As an amateur, she was a medalist at the 2000 U.S. Junior Girls' Amateur Championship, and in 2003 she reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Women's Amateur Championships. She attended the University of Arizona and was the country's #1 ranked player as a freshmen, compiling six victories before leaving in her sophomore year to turn pro. She was an All-America in 2003 and 2004, NCAA Freshman of the Year in 2003, Pac-10 Player of the Year in 2003 and won the Golfists Cup, awarded for the NCAA women's lowest stroke average, in 2003. In 2004 she was on the winning United States Curtis Cup team.
Blasberg turned professional in June 2004 and played on the Futures Tour that season. She won the Laconia Savings Bank Futures Golf Classic and in route to her first professional win broke the tour's 18 hole scoring record, shooting a 62. She won "non-exempt" status for the main LPGA Tour at the 2004 LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament. (Non-exempt status means she gets to play on the tour, but doesn't get into all the best events).
Blasberg started on the LPGA Tour in 2005, making the cut in most of her early events but not contending for top positions. She was disqualified from the Chick-fil-A Charity Championship in May 2005 over a mix-up about handing in her card, and she told ESPN that the rule she broke was poorly handled by the officials. The next week, though, she made a hole in one and won a Mercury SUV. At mid-season she fired her caddie, which she says was a tough thing to do, but she wasn't satisfied with her results and wanted to do something about it. She made most of the cuts, but ended 2005 a disappointing 109th on the money list. She was chosen to play in the 2005 Lexus Cup, where she won two matches and halved another (including a 98 yard hole out on the 18th to win a match). In 2006, despite a late season rally she once again finshed just outside the top one hundred on the money list, but a successful visit to Qualifying School won her exempt status for the first time in her career for the 2007 season.
Blasberg is one of the LPGA's more photogenic players and Puma has made her their world wide marketing symbol for their golf line. ESPN radio has compared her to Natalie Gulbis, the golfer who did a swimsuit calendar.
