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KRAFT NABISCO CHAMPIONSHIPApril 3, 2013Natalie GulbisRANCHO MIRAGE, CALIFORNIA THE MODERATOR: Welcome to the press room here at the Kraft Nabisco Championship. Great pleasure to have Natalie Gulbis here. Lots of different things we're going to ask you about. We could start with the victory you've already gotten this week with the EA Sports thing the other night, but I don't think we should start there. I think we should start with your health, because I think everybody wants to know how you're feeling. I know you've been trying to compete over the last few weeks and it hasn't quite worked out. Where are you health‑wise? NATALIE GULBIS: I feel good. This is the first event in the last month that I've actually registered for, So that is a good step in the right direction. But, as everybody knows, it's been a pretty rough month. I've been trying to play, and then I'll fall back and rest for a couple of days, and then I try to play again, and I'm back to square one. Hopefully, I'm past that part and I'm doing better every day. I'm just so excited to be back. Not only to be back here in this event, but back playing golf. I mean, yesterday was the first time I've played 18 holes since Singapore, and I really missed being on the golf course. Q. How do you feel physically on the golf course? It's hotter here than it probably is in other places? NATALIE GULBIS: I love the heat. I'm a California girl that went to school in Arizona and lives in Las Vegas. So the heat feels great, and I love being out in the heat. This is a good test for everybody out here this week. It's going to be hot. It's a major championship. It's a tough golf course, and we have to be well prepared. Q. When you say Mission Hills or you say Kraft Nabisco, and you say major, all of those things, what's that mean for you this week? How special is this event to you? NATALIE GULBIS: Well, what makes this event so special this Kraft Nabisco Championship is the history. I mean, this event, I don't know if we have any other event on Tour that has the tradition and history that this has on the same golf course. You walk up 18 and you see all the past champions and players that I've gotten to play along with and also my heroes growing up, and know that they've walked that same path and same golf course. I remember watching the Kraft Nabisco when I was 12, 13 years old. Now that I'm a few years past that, it's a great to be able to play here and compete in this event. Q. You've got some history here. You had a great finish last year, a Top 10 finish, and then you've been third before in this event. So what is it maybe about this golf course or did you just have a great week or is there something that fits your eye when you're out playing that leads to that success for you here? NATALIE GULBIS: I love this golf course. I think this is one of the best courses we play all year. What I like about this golf course is you have to hit quite a few different shots. You have to be able to work the ball, so I really enjoy that part of this golf course. The greens are fast. I love the fast greens. But I think what makes this event so much better is the majors in the past. I love tough golf courses, and when you're playing well, it's fun to be challenged by a tough golf course. Q.  Natalie, at Kia you had to withdraw with fatigue. What have you done in the last two weeks? Has that meant just hanging around the house or are you doing a thousand push‑ups a day to get your strength back? NATALIE GULBIS: I tried to play in the Kia. I actually played a practice round and played a few holes with Stacy Lewis on Tuesday, and even to get ready for that practice round I had an IV in the morning ask drove to the golf course to play and was so excited to play. I think I did a little too much that day because I found myself back in the doctor's office the next morning and was told very strictly that I was not ready to go out and try to compete and needed another week if I wanted to play this week. Because I was just basically spinning my wheels by trying to play and not actually taking the time to get better. So I enjoyed a week off after that, and just started slowly practicing, putting, chipping, doing a little bit of work, workouts to try to get some strength back up. Just spent every day trying to do a little bit more. I'm really listening to my coach, Butch Harmon, on what he feels like I should do, and he's working with my doctors. And every day I work just to get a little better. Q. So nothing out of the ordinary, just building back up to where you were? NATALIE GULBIS: No, nothing really out of the ordinary, just day by day. Q. Where do you feel like your career is right now with the game? I know you had the big victory at Evian and now a major. It will be a different golf course this year. Where do you feel like you are with your career? NATALIE GULBIS: The last couple of years have been the most fun parts of my career. I think the first couple of years‑‑ this is my 12th season on Tour‑‑ the first couple of years there is a lot of pressure and you're trying to learn all the golf courses. For me, I came out when I was 18 and I was trying to adjust to what it was like to be a professional athlete and to travel the way that we do. And now after 12 years, it's so much more fun. Q. What's better about it? NATALIE GULBIS: It's just you know what the season is going to be like. I've developed great friendships both on the Tour and with the different sponsors and different cities that we play in. I've gotten to travel all over the world and see so many cool different places. It's just a lot more fun to be out. Not that there's any less pressure. There is always pressure in playing competitive sports, but it's different than when you're trying to get out here and make it and make it your career than when you're out here and you're playing because you still love it. Q. Let's talk about that video game victory the other night. You and Anthony Anderson, right? NATALIE GULBIS: That was a good time. My favorite part of the EA Sports is we had a video contest, and I love games, so any time I get a chance to play the video game. That is the coolest game I've ever played and the most realistic. I'm on it, so that helps too. But it's most realistic like a golf swing. When I was swinging, it felt like I was hitting a 50‑yard shot or hitting those different shots. The coolest part is they have the Dinah Shore in there. Now, I've seen on Twitter now and all these gamers that are texting and they're so excited to play the same golf course that we're going to be playing this weekend. I've never played Augusta. I've only played it on the Tiger Woods or Masters Edition game. I think it's cool for them to be able to see that. We had a lot of fun. You were there. There were a lot of laughs, and we had a great combination of players and celebrities there. THE MODERATOR: Yeah, it's good for the LPGA to be part of that game. Q. A couple minutes ago you mentioned what makes this tournament a little different is the history that it has. How important ishistory to a major event? There are a lot of great golf courses, but it's still part of the puzzle to have something to look back on? NATALIE GULBIS: I think the history is important. It's what makes this event so special. It's what makes Augusta so special. For us this year we are going back to St. Andrews. I remember the first time we played St. Andrews was in, I think, 2007‑‑ I'm not sure if that's correct. When we went there all the players were so excited to play St. Andrews, to play such a famously historical golf course like that and the home of golf, to be there and to play that golf course. I think there is a lot of golf that is a part of history. It's fun to make new history, but it's also great to be part of something like this. Coming back to an event that's been on the same golf course that we've grown up watching players hit great shots and to play those same holes and hit to those same pin placements, it's really special for us. Q. The Masters has the green jacket that's a big part of it. Should a white bath robe be included with this tournament? NATALIE GULBIS: Sure. I think that jump is as famous as the green jacket for us. Those players, everybody wants to jump in that pond.  It's something that makes this event cool and different. We all look at that alongside the 18th green knowing and wanting to be jumping in. Look at the photos that you guys have up here in the media. You don't have shots of these players hitting into the 18th green. You have all the jumps, so that's what makes this event something extra special. Q. Would you jump? Are you going to dive if you have the chance on Sunday? What would you do? Have you thought about that? NATALIE GULBIS: I haven't thought about that, but I hope I get the chance. Q. Would you dive? You seem like you might dive. NATALIE GULBIS: I don't know, but my 5‑year‑old cousin came out in the Pro‑Am yesterday and she was like, "Can we go in that lake?" And I said, "No, they don't let you just go into it. You have to win first." She said, "Why don't you win so we can go in the lake on Sunday?" Q. That's great. Speaking of kids, you're tied into the Boys and Girls Club in Henderson, Nevada, and now your name is part of one of those clubs. You want to share this little story? NATALIE GULBIS: I had a couple of goals growing up. One was to be an LPGA Tour player and right behind it was to have my own Boys and Girls Club. I've always been a fan of the Boys and Girls Club. And for 12 years of my professional career, it's been the charity that I did my time to and my energies towards. In January this year, the Boys and Girls Club of America gave me a great honor and are naming a club in Las Vegas that's going to be called the Natalie Gulbis Boys and Girls Club, and we'll be unveiling it next week. I'm so excited. It's a big honor, and it's going to be a great part for me to have an influence on those kids and to continue to get more kids in a safe environment. Q. I'm going to sound stupid, but could you just take us through what injuries or what was the injury and what was the rehab? NATALIE GULBIS: Yeah, I got sick at the first event of the year, which was in Thailand. Since then I've pulled out of three events. Q. Stomach sick? NATALIE GULBIS: Like real stomach sick. Q. Something you ate? NATALIE GULBIS: No, I got bitten by a mosquito in Thailand. That's what the doctors said. Q. Is it malaria? Is that it? NATALIE GULBIS: Yes. Q. What do you have to do to get rid of that? NATALIE GULBIS: The first couple of days they, fortunately or unfortunately, they know exactly what to do to treat it because there have been some cases before, so they know exactly how to treat it. Then they told me right away I was going to be out for about a month. I thought that meant for an athlete, two weeks, and that I would be back. It definitely took longer, and I'm grateful that I had good doctors that knew how to treat me, and I'm sitting here with a chance to play this week. Q. Were you hospitalized? NATALIE GULBIS: I was. Q. For how long? NATALIE GULBIS: For how long? Off and on for quite a few days. Q. What was your reaction when they told you had malaria? NATALIE GULBIS: I think I was glad that they had a clear understanding of what I had. I've traveled a lot and I've been sick and I had injuries. I think the scary thing when you're a patient is the doctor not knowing exactly what's wrong. They were able to determine what I had, they knew exactly what to give me, and what I needed to do. And whether or not I listened perfectly or not is neither here nor there, but I think just knowing that they knew what to do. They told me it was going to be four to six weeks, so if I was lucky, to be able to come out and play again. Now I'm at four weeks. Q. Do you still take medication? NATALIE GULBIS: No. I did IV therapy last week, but hopefully, knock on wood, I'm good, and I'm going to continue going forward. Q. Does that change your goal this week? Are you just hoping to make a cut, or do you feel like your game is sharp enough that you could contend this week as you did last year? NATALIE GULBIS: My game gets better every day, so that's positive. I love this golf course. That goes without saying. I'm definitely more excited than I think I've ever been to go out and play a tournament and a round of golf. It's very, very exciting to come back. I remember when I came back from having a back injury, it's so exciting when you come back out, but the goals are the same. The goal is to have a chance to win come Sunday. Q. Just, obviously, this is a great game, but along with that comes a lot of pressure with everyone playing on Tour now. How much pressure is it when you see other players having to go out there and perform every week? NATALIE GULBIS: It's what we play for. We love pressure. That's what we spend our whole life doing, to have a chance to win tournaments and to compete. I love to play golf, but there is nothing better than playing in competition, and it gets even better when you have a chance to win the tournament and you're feeling everything that we feel when you come down the stretch on the last few holes of a major championship or a tournament to win. It's what we practice for and play for, to have that chance to be under pressure. Q. Solheim Cup here, and Stacy was in here yesterday and Paula was here yesterday. What is the importance of that event for you? Is that an extra little kick in the pants to go I've got to play some good golf and I want to be a part of that? NATALIE GULBIS: Yeah, very important. That was my goal this year was to make the Solheim Cup team. I've been on three Solheims and they've been my favorite week on Tour. I love that event, and I missed a couple of events, so I know I'm a little behind the curve. So I need to start making some points. THE MODERATOR: I don't think you're short on fans and support. Thank you very much for coming in, and glad you're feeling better. NATALIE GULBIS: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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