Erica Blasberg

Erica Paige Blasberg (July 14, 1984 – May 9, 2010) was an American professional golfer who played on the LPGA Tour.

She attended the University of Arizona, and was the country's number 1 ranked college player as a freshman.

Blasberg was the medalist at the 2000 U.S. Girls' Junior, and lost in the quarterfinals.

She then went to Corona High School, where she had a 4.0 GPA, starred on the boys' golf team, and was the Mountain View League individual champion and MVP, graduating in 2002.

She won the 2002 Rolex Tournament of Champions.

In 2003, she reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Women's Amateur.

She attended the University of Arizona, and was the country's number 1 ranked college player as a freshman, compiling six victories for the Arizona Wildcats before leaving in her sophomore year to turn pro.

Blasberg was an All-American golfer in 2003 and 2004, 2003 NCAA Freshman of the Year, 2003 Pac-10 Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year, and won the 2003 Golfstat Cup, awarded for having the NCAA women's lowest stroke average (72.36).

Golfweek put her on its cover.

She won the 2004 Laconia Savings Bank Golf Classic.

Blasberg was born in Orange, California, to Debra (who worked for Avis) and Mel Blasberg (who at the time worked in the automobile business, and then as a golf coach).

She was Jewish.

She was raised in Corona, California, 40 miles east of Los Angeles.

Her father had been raised on Long Island, New York, and attended Plainview High School, where he played for the golf team.

She attended Coronita Elementary.

In 2004, she was on the winning United States Curtis Cup team against Great Britain and Ireland.

Blasberg turned professional in June 2004, at 19 years of age, and played on the LPGA Futures Tour that season.

She won the Laconia Savings Bank Golf Classic, and en route to her first professional win broke the Future Tour's 18-hole scoring record, shooting a 62.

She earned non-exempt status for the LPGA Tour at the 2004 LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament.

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, after scoring a low 70-the lowest round of her season, when she accidentally walked 10 steps from the scoring tent before returning to it to give in her card, after taking photographs with fans and signing autographs, before submitting her scorecard which she had signed.

Blasberg later told reporters that the rule infraction was poorly handled by the officials, and that she should not have received a penalty.

The next week she made a hole in one and won a Mercury SUV.

At mid-season she fired her caddie, because she "needed a change."

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.

She ended 2005 109th on the money list.

In 2006, despite a late season rally she once again finished just outside the top 100 on the money list at # 112, but a successful tournament at Qualifying School in the fall of 2006 won her exempt status for 2007 — the first and only time in her career she had exempt status on the LPGA Tour.

Blasberg was considered one of the LPGA's more photogenic players, and in February 2006 Puma signed her to a multi-year endorsement deal, to be the first female golfer to endorse and wear their clothing.

She has been compared to Natalie Gulbis, an LPGA golfer who did a swimsuit calendar.

She also was signed to endorsement deals with Casio and Cleveland Golf.

In 2007, she finished 104th on the money list.

Her results were only marginally better than in 2007.

She played 23 tournaments and, while she did earn the only top-10 finish of her career, she again finished near the bottom of the LPGA money list.

Blasberg chose not to return to Qualifying School, leaving her once again as a non-exempt player for 2008.

In 2008, she earned a career-best tie for eighth at the SBS Open in Hawaii, and over $113,000 ($0 in current dollar terms) in winnings.

Blasberg returned again to Qualifying School in 2009 in an attempt to improve her status on Tour for the 2010 season, but withdrew after shooting rounds of 72 and 78 in the final stage of the Tournament.

In 2009 she was 128th on the money list.

She entered 2010 with limited playing opportunities and played just one tournament, the Tres Marias Championship in Morelia, Mexico, where she finished 44th after Monday qualifying for the event.

During the tournament week, Blasberg participated in a "Back to College" event at which she joined fellow players Mina Harigae and Mariajo Uribe in visiting student-athletes at the Universidad Latina De America in Morelia to answer questions on golf and education.

Blasberg was found dead with a plastic bag secured over her head in her bed at her home in Anthem Country Club in Henderson, Nevada, outside of Las Vegas, on the afternoon of May 9, 2010.