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The Henderson police said that no foul play was suspected in her death, but they issued a misdemeanor arrest warrant for Hess, who discovered the body, on obstruction charges for allegedly removing items from the scene, including a suicide note.<ref name="suicide">[[USA Today]], [http://www.usatoday.com/sports/golf/2010-08-24-3897465960_x.htm Coroner says LPGA golfer Blasberg death a suicide] 2010-08-24. Accessed 2010-08-24</ref> By August 25, 2010, Hess turned himself in, posted bail and was released.<ref name="911call" />
The Henderson police said that no foul play was suspected in her death, but they issued a misdemeanor arrest warrant for Hess, who discovered the body, on obstruction charges for allegedly removing items from the scene, including a suicide note.<ref name="suicide">[[USA Today]], [http://www.usatoday.com/sports/golf/2010-08-24-3897465960_x.htm Coroner says LPGA golfer Blasberg death a suicide] 2010-08-24. Accessed 2010-08-24</ref> By August 25, 2010, Hess turned himself in, posted bail and was released.<ref name="911call" />

On Dec 2 2010 Thomas Hess pleaded guilty to misdemeanor obstruction of justice in the suicide of Erica Blasberg.

According to reports, Hess admitted to removing a suicide note and prescription medications from Blasberg's home before police showed up to investigate, wanting to spare her family the supposed embarrassment of a suicide.

Hess was sentenced to one year probation and 40 hours of community service.


==Professional wins==
==Professional wins==

Revision as of 05:46, 3 December 2010

Erica Blasberg
Blasberg at the 2008 LPGA Championship
Personal information
Full nameErica Paige Blasberg
Height5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Sporting nationality United States
ResidenceHenderson, Nevada, U.S.
Career
CollegeUniversity of Arizona
(two years)
Turned professional2004
Current tour(s)LPGA
(joined 2005)
Former tour(s)Futures Tour
(joined 2004)
Professional wins1
Number of wins by tour
Epson Tour1
Best results in LPGA major championships
Chevron ChampionshipCUT: 2004
Women's PGA C'shipT76: 2007
U.S. Women's OpenT39: 2007
Women's British OpenT64: 2008

Erica Paige Blasberg[1] (July 14, 1984 – May 9, 2010) was an American golfer who played on the LPGA Tour.

Early life

Blasberg was born in Orange, California,[1] and raised in Corona, California. She attended Corona High School where she played on the boys' golf team.[2]

Amateur career

As an amateur, Blasberg was the medalist at the 2000 U.S. Girls' Junior and lost in the quarterfinals.[3] In 2003, she reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Women's Amateur.[4] She attended the University of Arizona and was the country's number 1 ranked college player as a freshman, compiling six victories before leaving in her sophomore year to turn pro. She was an All-America golfer in 2003 and 2004, NCAA Freshman of the Year in 2003, Pac-10 Player of the Year in 2003, and won the Golfists Cup, awarded for the NCAA women's lowest stroke average, in 2003. In 2004 she was on the winning United States Curtis Cup team.

Professional career

Blasberg turned professional in June 2004 and played on the Futures Tour that season. She won the Laconia Savings Bank Golf Classic and en route to her first professional win broke the 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 when she left the scoring tent without signing her card.[5] Blasberg later told reporters that the rule infraction was poorly handled by the officials and that she should not have received a penalty.[6] 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."[7] She ended 2005 109th on the money list. 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. In 2006, despite a late season rally she once again finished just outside the top one hundred on the money list, 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.

In 2007, she finished 104th on the money list. She chose not to return to Qualifying School, leaving her once again as a non-exempt player for 2008. In 2008 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.

She returned again to Qualifying School in 2009 in an attempt to improve her status on Tour for the 2010 but withdrew after shooting rounds of 72 and 78 in the final stage of the Tournament. She entered 2010 with limited playing opportunities and played just one tournament, the Tres Marias Championship in Morelia, Mexico where she finished tied for 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.[8]

Blasberg was considered one of the LPGA's more photogenic players and in February 2006 Puma signed her to endorse and wear their clothing.[9][10] ESPN radio once compared her to Natalie Gulbis, an LPGA golfer who did a swimsuit calendar.[11]

Death

Blasberg was found dead at her Henderson, Nevada, home on the afternoon of May 9, 2010, according to local police [12][13][14][15][10] who were dispatched to Blasberg's home in response to a 911 call by Dr. Thomas Hess around 3:00 PM (PT).[16] In an interview reported in the Riverside County Press-Enterprise on May 10, Blasberg's father, Mel Blasberg, was quoted saying, "At first glance it looks like she might have taken her own life, but at second glance, something is very, very strange about it. We're waiting for the police to make an investigation."[2] Missy Pederson, who was supposed to be Blasberg's caddy at a May 10 qualifying round for the Bell Micro LPGA Classic in Mobile, Alabama, told the New York Times that Blasberg had sent her a text in the early morning hours of May 9. In the message, Blasberg told Pederson she was not going to play in the tournament. A worried Pederson sent a text back to Blasberg, asking if she was all right, but Blasberg never replied.[17] However, Blasberg's agent revealed that Blasberg's bags were packed at the time of her death.[18]

On May 13, 2010, police in Henderson, Nevada, executed a search warrant for the home and office of Hess in the ongoing investigation into Blasberg's death.[19] The search warrant listed an anti-anxiety medication, Xanax, plastic garbage bags, and a sample of Hess's handwriting.[19] An inventory of the materials seized in the search of Hess's house includes two computers, a cell phone, two video cameras and a GPS unit. A computer and white trash bags were seized from Hess's office.[19] CBS also reported that a white trash bag, similar to the one seized from Hess's office or home, was found near Blasberg's body.[20] Blasberg's father appeared on The Early Show on June 2, 2010, and denied that his daughter was clinically depressed, having financial troubles or was otherwise unhappy with her recent performances.[20]

On August 24, 2010, the Clark County coroner's office ruled that Blasberg's death was caused by suicide. Asphyxia was cited as the primary cause of death with the presence of prescription drugs in Blasberg's system also cited as a "significant factor in her death." The drugs in Blasberg’s system included butalbital, temazepam, alprazolam (Xanax), codeine, hydrocodone, and tramadol, according to the coroner. Nevada law does not permit the release of details on the amounts of medication.

The Henderson police said that no foul play was suspected in her death, but they issued a misdemeanor arrest warrant for Hess, who discovered the body, on obstruction charges for allegedly removing items from the scene, including a suicide note.[21] By August 25, 2010, Hess turned himself in, posted bail and was released.[16]

On Dec 2 2010 Thomas Hess pleaded guilty to misdemeanor obstruction of justice in the suicide of Erica Blasberg.

According to reports, Hess admitted to removing a suicide note and prescription medications from Blasberg's home before police showed up to investigate, wanting to spare her family the supposed embarrassment of a suicide.

Hess was sentenced to one year probation and 40 hours of community service.

Professional wins

Futures Tour

Results in LPGA majors

Tournament 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Kraft Nabisco Championship CUT DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
LPGA Championship DNP DNP DNP T76 CUT CUT
U.S. Women's Open CUT DNP DNP T39 DNP DNP
Women's British Open DNP DNP DNP DNP T64 DNP

DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

LPGA Tour career summary

Year Tournaments
played
Cuts
made
Wins 2nd 3rd Top 10s Best
finish
Official
earnings ($)
Money
list rank
Scoring
average
Scoring
rank
2003 1 0 0 0 0 0 T49 n/a n/a 68.75 n/a
2004 3 0 0 0 0 0 MC n/a n/a 75.83 n/a
2005 16 12 0 0 0 0 T31 52,522 T109 73.23 75
2006 16 10 0 0 0 0 T25 62,477 112 72.37 58
2007 19 11 0 0 0 0 T18 72,037 104 73.45 80
2008 23 11 0 0 0 1 T8 113,428 94 73.09 96
2009 17 5 0 0 0 0 T36 26,408 128 73.55 113
2010 1 1 0 0 0 0 T44 5,544 971 73.00 n/a

1Money list ranking as of May 2, 2010, at the end of her last tournament.

References

  1. ^ a b California Births 1905–1995 search for Erica Blasberg
  2. ^ a b Swanson, Mirjam (2010-05-10). "Former Corona High star and LPGA pro, Erica Blasberg, dead at 25". The Press Enterprise. Retrieved 2010-05-10. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  3. ^ 2000 U.S. Girls' Junior
  4. ^ 2003 U.S. Women's Amateur
  5. ^ Associated Press (2005-05-12). "Sorenstam trying to start another win streak". ESPN. Retrieved 2008-02-16. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ Blasberg, Erica (2005-05-18). "Painful lesson ends tournament early". The Press Enterprise. Retrieved 2010-05-10. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ Blasberg, Erica (2005-07-18). "Rookie Blog – Erica Blasberg, Entry 4". LPGA.com. Retrieved 2010-05-10.
  8. ^ ""Back to College" at Tres Marias Championship". YouTube. 2010-04-27. Retrieved 2010-05-10.
  9. ^ "PUMA Signs LPGA Rising Star Erica Blasberg". dexigner. 2006-02-10. Retrieved 2010-05-10.
  10. ^ a b Hack, Damon (2010-05-10). "Blasberg found dead, police investigating". Golf.com. Retrieved 2010-05-10.
  11. ^ ESPN Radio (2005-06-15). "Women of AllNight: Erica Blasberg". ESPN. Retrieved 2008-02-16. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  12. ^ Achenbach, James (2010-05-19). "Blasberg funeral filled with tears, tributes". Golfweek.com. Retrieved 2010-06-03. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  13. ^ Golfweek.com (2010-05-10). "LPGA player Erica Blasberg, 25, dies". Golfweek.com. Retrieved 2010-05-10. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  14. ^ Garcia, Oskar (2010-05-10). "LPGA player Blasberg dies; police investigating". Associated Press (via Yahoo). Retrieved 2010-05-10. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  15. ^ News Provider (2010-05-10). "LPGA golfer Erica Blasberg mysteriously died at 25". News Provider. Retrieved 2010-05-10. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  16. ^ a b CBS News, Erica Blasberg's Death Ruled Suicide; Golfer's Doctor Arrested 2010-08-25. Retrieved 2010-08-27.
  17. ^ USAToday (2010-05-13). "Erica Blasberg texted about not being able to make an LPGA tourney hours before death". USAToday. Retrieved 2010-06-03. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  18. ^ ESPN (2010-05-11). "Agent: Blasberg had bags packed". ESPN. Retrieved 2010-06-03. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  19. ^ a b c Associated Press (2010-05-13). "Doctor's office searched in probe". Associated Press. Retrieved 2010-06-03. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  20. ^ a b Kauffman, Hattie (2010-06-02). "Erica Blasberg's Father Speaks Out". CBS News. Retrieved 2010-06-05. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  21. ^ USA Today, Coroner says LPGA golfer Blasberg death a suicide 2010-08-24. Accessed 2010-08-24

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