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HUGEL-JTBC LA OPEN

April 19, 2018

Natalie Gulbis

Los Angeles, California

Q. How nice does it feel to get back inside the ropes and playing well?
NATALIE GULBIS: Great. I mean, it feels great to be back playing, and obviously feels like I haven't played in years.

Butch and I were talking about it. He said it's really fun for you to get to play like this because you don't any expectations. In a month or even the next event you play, you're going to have a lot of expectations.

And that's what I just tried to think of today. I was really excited to be back in playing. Live in Southern California, so a lot of my family is out here. Just glad to be back.

Q. (Indiscernible.)
NATALIE GULBIS: Yes.

Q. You've been involved heavily with this tournament from a publicity standpoint. What's special about this week to you?
NATALIE GULBIS: The L.A. Open. I mean, being back in L.A., being back at Wilshire and in this market. This is an incredible golf course. It's the hundred year anniversary of Wilshire. It was the first golf course that let me practice when I would spend time here in L.A.

Just to have an event back here, it just shows you how well the LPGA is doing to be back in markets like this.

It's been fun. Like you said, I was at a couple of the media days, and it's just fun to be part of.

Everything. They pulled this together. This event was only announced a couple months ago, so to pull this together was really impressive.

Q. You mentioned no expectations, but you played well here in the first round. Will you be able to manage those expectations now as they perhaps might grow throughout the weekend?
NATALIE GULBIS: We'll see. I mean, I have the same expectations for the whole week, so we'll see. Next week I'll probably have a lot more.

Q. How many of those have you had?
NATALIE GULBIS: I've had three back surgeries, and the first one wasn't successful. I was going to retire in 2010.

Then I was just trying to play a couple events and kind of walk away from the tour, and then Peter Jacobsen had had a similar surgery to mine at Laser Spine, and I went down to see if I was a candidate.

I was a candidate, and I remember talking to Butch that night and being like, What do you think? Try other surgery? What should I do? I've had a great career. I played a long time. That was in 2010.

He was like, Well, if there's -- there was like an 80% chance of success and no risk. Like no risk for it would get worse. It worked out great.

Then maybe starting last year I blew out my back before Atlantic City hitting a bunker shot like this, and Georgia Hall had one of those shots today. I was like...

Q. You hold your breath.
NATALIE GULBIS: I haven't hit a lot of shots still. I've only been back practicing for maybe a month.

Q. Wow. Now, did you have a lot of pain then or was it just waiting for it to heal?
NATALIE GULBIS: I would get caught like sideways. Oh, with the surgery?

Q. Yeah.
NATALIE GULBIS: No. Just waiting to heal. Just like a lot of stiffness and just weakness. You're weak in every golf muscle that you need.

Q. So this brace, how long you have to wear that?
NATALIE GULBIS: I don't think I even have to. I think this just feels comforting.

Q. In case you're in a bunker like this?
NATALIE GULBIS: I think that my surgeon would probably be like, Why are you still wearing the brace? Like today I actually I told him, like, Do I wear a brace or do I not today? Because I go back and forth. I'm not sure.

I played in a brace last year, so I don't know I don't need it.

Q. So what is your schedule going to be like for the rest of the year?
NATALIE GULBIS: I'm going to play here, Dallas, Kingsmill, Atlantic City, Arkansas, Grand Rapids. And I feel great, so I would like to...

Q. So start of a big stretch?
NATALIE GULBIS: Yeah. So trying to create like a mini season. That's what I wanted to do. I love being on tour, and I don't know what the best way to do it is. The last couple years I've tried to play one or two events and have a couple weeks off and try to save my back or figure out what would actually work for me to play with the.

It was Butch's idea to try to have a mini season. Last year I would play one event or play two events and have like leak a month off.

Q. Yeah.
NATALIE GULBIS: So I don't know what the combo is. When you're kind of at this stage, I mean, look at players like Cristie. She still plays full time. Catriona Matthew still plays 20 events.

You do that because you get in that (indiscernible.) But this is the first event back too for me without Ray, so it's like a lot of different firsts. (Plane interference.) A lot of his family is from Virginia.

Q. Cool.
NATALIE GULBIS: But it's just been great to see everybody. I haven't seen all these players in so long.

Q. Thank you.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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