July 30, 2007–Natalie Gulbis, a Lake Las Vegas Resort resident who lives on the fairways of Reflection Bay Golf Club, has been one of the best players on the LPGA Tour for several years, and also one of the most determined. She's played on a Solheim Cup team, finished top 10 on the money list, and come very close to winning a major. But until winning the Evian Masters in France, Gulbis hadn't tasted the victor's spoils. And now, because of a recent back injury, she is a champion, and winning just might become a common occurrence. Click here to read her own words about what it means to finally win a LPGA Tour event.
Recently Gulbis has been battling a bad back, and even withrew from tournaments, and struggled in others, but the injury forced her to make some swing alterations, and speed up the process of some things she had been working on for many years.
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"I got hurt two months ago," Gulbis said following her win. "I Had a lower back injury and had to take about a month off. I had to change my golf swing because of my injury. I had to work on my posture and I had to do all the things that I had been working on with my father for about four or five years.
"We had been working on these same things and they just weren't happening, and it took an injury. I was kind of thinking this might be a blessing in disguise with the injury, and I kept working on it and working on my posture and I kept hitting it further and all the things I wanted to happen on my golf swing started happening."
The win earned Gulbis 60 points for the Solheim Cup team, and she now stands 7th on the points to qualify for the team, just about making her a sure thing to be on the team. 12 players will represent the United States in the prestigious event to be played September 14-16 in Halmstad, Sweden.
Gulbis also collected $450,000 for the victory, and will jump well into the top 20 (from 45th) on the money list, and she also qualifies for the Mitchell Company LPGA Tournament of Champions.