Win or lose, tournament weekend should be more fun for Kerr this time

Adam Candee

Wednesday, April 13, 2005 | 9:10 a.m.

Savoring a victory was about the last idea on Cristie Kerr's mind at the end of last year's seven-hole playoff in the LPGA Takefuji Classic.

"I was so tired that night going to dinner that I couldn't appreciate it," Kerr said Tuesday. "I was so tired. You have no idea how much it takes out of you."

Kerr outlasted Seol An Jon in a seven-hole playoff marked by nasty wind and rain to win last year's Takefuji, a marathon tournament that even had fellow players wondering what the heck was taking so long out there.

"People were eating dinner at the top of the Hilton and wondering, 'Are they still out there?' I heard that from numerous people," Kerr said.

Kerr went through her pre-tournament press conference just a few minutes after Natalie Gulbis, which seems only appropriate for the two good friends to follow one another. Kerr said the relationship first developed during Gulbis' 2002 rookie season, at a tournament in Hawaii.

"I said, you don't have to be afraid of me," Kerr said. "I'm real easygoing and anytime you want to hang out, anytime you need advice ... and we just grew closer and closer. We have a lot in common."

So close, in fact, that Kerr will be a part of Gulbis' new reality TV show, "Natalie," which is scheduled to air on The Golf Channel later this summer. The shoot is in progress for the six-week series right now, and Kerr is slated to hit the town this weekend with Gulbis as part of an episode.

Kerr laughed at the idea of her reality TV debut, saying, "I think we're probably going to do something on Saturday night. Quite honestly, we're going to go and be ourselves. It's going to be fun -- she's like my little sister."

Admitting she's already down about $200 on her Vegas trip, Kerr added, "I heard that they might give us money to play craps, so I'm in."

Gulbis expounded Tuesday on initial details about her new show and why she chose to do it in the first place.

"The Golf Channel was a perfect fit," she said. "They were going to show my life as basically what I am, as an athlete, which is a good fit."

The LPGA's original cover girl, Jan Stephenson, gave a strong endorsement to the show.

"That's the type of stuff we need. We need to have more," Stephenson said. "What Natalie's going to do is great. The calendar was great."