01:00 AM EDT on Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Natalie Gulbis is much more than just another pretty face.

Yes, the 23-year-old, 5-foot-9 blonde with blue-green eyes models for her own highly popular swimsuit calendar. Yes, she has been featured in a swimsuit photo spread in the men's magazine FHM. And, yes, she has been linked romantically with Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

But Gulbis also has five top-10 finishes in 2006, including a tie for third at the first major of the year, the Kraft Nabisco Championship.

So, yes, she has glamour galore, but she also has plenty of game.

A native of Sacramento, Calif., Gulbis won the California Women's Amateur championship at the age of 14. That was the same year she became the youngest player ever to qualify for an LPGA event -- a record since broken by Michele Wie, when she was 12. Gulbis went on to play at the University of Arizona, where she won four intercollegiate tourneys and was named a first-team, All-American.

But she has yet to win an LPGA event in 4 1/2 years on Tour, which has resulted in some irritating comparisons with Anna Kournikova, the shapely Russian tennis player who never won a pro tournament, but became internationally famous for her good looks.

"I'm an athlete, not a model," Gulbis has said.

It has been her athleticism, not her unorthodox swing, that has gotten her this far.

"I had heard she had the most unusual swing in the world," Butch Harmon, swing guru to the stars, said in a recent interview with Golfweek.

"I was more curious to see it than anything else," said Harmon, who's been working with Gulbis to make some changes. "When I did, I couldn't believe what I saw. I've never seen a person at the top of the swing have their right elbow on the other side of the ball. Her head was facing straight backwards and yet her right elbow was on the other side of the ball.

"But she got her club square at impact, which was phenomenal to me. She just had tremendous natural talent."

Natural talent and natural beauty have been a lucrative combination for Gulbis, who was sixth on the LPGA Tour in earnings in 2005 with $1,010,154, and has endorsement deals with the likes of adidas, TaylorMade, Outback, and Ricochet Swimwear, which features a "Natalie Gulbis Collection."

Gulbis has improved her scoring average each year -- her 71.4 last year was fifth on the Tour, and she ranked third in birdies and fourth in rounds under par.

A member of the American team in the Solheim Cup in 2005, she contributed three points to the U.S. victory, including a win in singles.

She usually plays well in big events. In addition to finishing third this year in the Kraft Nabisco, she tied for fourth in last year's Open and tied for fifth in the LPGA Championship.

It appears to be only a matter of time -- a short time, most likely -- until Gulbis breaks through and wins her first pro tournament.

"It's more mental than physical now," Harmon said. "Once she gets her first (LPGA victory) the floodgates will be open."

-- JIM DONALDSON