KEVIN KLAUS / Arizona Daily Wildcat UA freshman Erica Blasberg eyes a putt during last month's Wildcat Invitational. Blasberg attempts to hold her own with the pros this weekend at the Welch's/Fry's Championship of Tucson. The event will take place at Dell Urich Golf Course at Randolph Park.

Freshman Erica Blasberg ready to make pro debut this week in Tucson

In just her second semester at UA, Erica Blasberg has done more than make a name for herself in the world of collegiate golf.

Come tomorrow though, that all goes out the window as she will try to make her first paw print on the LPGA tour at the Welch's/Fry's Championship of Tucson, at Dell Urich Golf Course at Randolph Park.

The Corona, Calif., native has made the jump from junior golf to the college level relatively easily, but said she still thinks this next step will be unlike anything she has never experienced.

"It's different because in junior and college golf you're just playing," Blasberg said. "These ladies are out here making a living. This is their job and they are amazing at it."

Blasberg has been putting up numbers on the college circuit that would make former Wildcats and LPGA stars Lorena Ochoa and Annika Sorenstam want to keep checking in their rear-view mirrors.

These ladies are out here making a living. This is their job and they are amazing at it. - Erica Blasberg

The young Wildcat finished 21st in her first collegiate tournament, the NCAA Fall Preview in September, and has not finished out the of the top three in five tournaments since.

"I was really excited about my freshman year even though I didn't really know what to expect," Blasberg said. "I came here thinking that whatever happened, happened, and it has been exciting so far."

With wins at the Stanford-Pepsi Intercollegiate in October and the Wildcat Invitational last month, Blasberg has been sitting atop the Golfweek/Sargarin Performance Index most of the year, a position she finds herself in right now.

"It's an awesome feeling (to be number one), but nothing matters until the end of the season," Blasberg said.

Head coach Greg Allen said he is excited about the freshman getting to tee it up with her mentors this week.

"It's going to be a great experience for her to play well and represent us well," Allen says. "Just the fact that she's out there is exciting."

This will be far from Blasberg's first brush with national exposure ÷ as she graced the cover of the Feb. 8 Golfweek magazine ÷ and has been in the news repeatedly because of her ventures on the course.

"I really like the national exposure because it really shows that I'm playing for something," Blasberg said.

It will be hard to find a pairing this week that isn't graced with a Wildcat in the group. Along with Blasberg playing on a sponsor's exemption, six other former UA golfers will be in the field, including 2001 and 2002 NCAA Player of the Year Lorena Ochoa, Marisa Baena, Natalie Gulbis, Chris Johnson, Leta Lindley and Kathryn Marshall.

"I'm not intimidated at all," Blasberg said. "I'm really excited to be playing with the other (UA) girls and I think it will be really cool being around those people."

So what does Blasberg expect from herself this week?

"She wants to make the cut and play on the weekend," Allen assessed.

"My main goal is to make the cut," Blasberg said. "But after that it's whatever my golfing (ability) does for me."

With all of the success Blasberg has seen so far this year, Allen said he hopes she demonstrates what she is capable of to herself and the rest of the tour.

"So much has happened to her, I think she's starting to realize she has a future on the LPGA tour," Allen said. "She's doing great things and it will be fun to see how she fares this week."

Even though she is just an amateur, Blasberg is hardly at a disadvantage. Local ties to the event have held true for the last two years, as Sorenstam took the title in 2001 while then-amateur UA sophomore Ochoa placed fifth, just four strokes off the winner's pace.

The Tucson connection doesn't stop there either. Coincidently, the last amateur to win a professional tour event was Phil Mickelson in the 1991 Northern Telecom Open ÷ in Tucson. Blasberg hopes to become the second, and continue the Tucson tradition.