Back in June, Donald Trump told his partisans at a Virginia rally that this GOP convention was going to look a little different. “I’m thinking of getting some of the great sports people that I know that like me a lot and that I like,” he said. He added that he was thinking about calling it “The Winners’ Evening.”
Whither the winners? Tim Tebow, who won an NFL playoff game one time, demurred after he was announced as a convention speaker. Bobby Knight, who led the Indiana basketball team to an undefeated season during the Cretaceous period, will reportedly appear on video. Boxing promoter Don King, who once killed a guy, didn’t end up getting a speaking slot, reportedly to Trump’s great consternation. That leaves us with UFC president Dana White, who will appear on stage on Tuesday. And following White to the mike will be legendary sports hero Natalie Gulbis.
Who exactly is Natalie Gulbis, and what does she want from us? A professional golfer on the LPGA Tour, Gulbis has either not played in or failed to make the cut in the last 10 women’s golf majors. She did win one LPGA tournament, in 2007; has more than $4 million in career earnings; starred in the short-lived reality TV program The Natalie Gulbis Show on the Golf Channel; and is known as one of the “most beautiful women in golf.” And most relevant to the proceedings in Cleveland, she is a human female who seems to enjoy the company of Donald Trump.
Back in June, Gulbis wrote a column for Golf.com titled “The Donald Trump I Know.” An excerpt:
The first time I met Donald I was 21 years old playing in my first Tour Championship at Trump International in West Palm Beach, Florida. I had just finished my practice round and was walking to the locker room—which looked more like a five-star spa—when I saw Mr. Trump chatting with a group of men in suits.
“Natalie! Congratulations on making it to your first Tour Championship,” he said in a booming voice. “I see you’re leading the tour in birdies this year. What do you think of the course?” How did he even know that? If he knew that I also led the tour in bogeys that year, he didn’t mention it. I replied nervously, “It’s beautiful! And I’m trying to stay away from the gigantic waterfall left of 17.” He laughed. As far as first impressions go, he could not have been a better host.
A few years later, Trump invited Gulbis to be on Season 2 of Celebrity Apprentice. (She was fired during episode 8 for failing to sell Ivanka Trump’s jewelry line effectively.) Trump also told her, she claims, that she should demand the same money for appearances and endorsements as PGA players. “His advice proved invaluable for me in my career, and I owe much of my success to his idea of staying true to my convictions and not being afraid to rock the boat,” Gulbis writes.
If her Twitter account is an indication, Gulbis plans to go big on the Trump-as-feminist angle (or perhaps the Tump-as-feminist angle) in her convention speech:
In her column for Golf.com, Gulbis wrote, “I realize he has made his share of controversial remarks, but in my experience, I have found him to be gracious, generous, and inspiring.” Trump’s latest act of generosity: a speaking slot after a video titled “Hil-LIAR-y” and before Tiffany Trump.
