ROGERS -- Actor Marcelo Tubert's daughter played her arrival at the LPGA Wal-Mart Northwest Arkansas Championship to near perfection Thursday at Pinnacle Country Club.
Emily Tubert, a three-time All-American at the University of Arkansas, had been noticeably absent this week at the course where she will make her professional debut today.
The Burbank, Calif., native explained why she arrived just a day before the tournament was set to begin in Rogers, just minutes away from Arkansas' campus in Fayetteville.
The recent Arkansas graduate has spent more than two weeks filming the next season of Big Break, a reality-based golf show on the Golf Channel.
"I will be a contestant on the next season of Big Break," Tubert said. "That's where I've been. We just wrapped yesterday, so I flew in this morning."
Tubert said she has been "in a bubble," filming the show and that she had no idea that former Arkansas men's golfer Sebastian Cappelen won his professional debut last weekend in the Web.com's Air Capital Classic in Wichita, Kan.
While Tubert would love to win in her LPGA debut, she said just playing well in front of the home fans this weekend is her immediate goal.
"I just want to have fun. I want to enjoy it," said Tubert, who missed the cut by two strokes at the 2013 U.S. Women's Open at Sebonack Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y. "There's nothing like Northwest Arkansas and the fans and the community that's here, and I think there isn't a better place for me to make my professional debut on the LPGA Tour."
Tubert won 6 individual titles, had 21 top-five finishes and 26 top-10 finishes while at Arkansas. She finished with a 72.25 career stroke average and shot a school-record 63 in the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown as a freshman.
She will be joined by Gaby Lopez, her Razorbacks teammate the past two years, and fellow Arkansas alumna Stacy Lewis in today's opening round.
Tubert also won the Dinah Shore Trophy from the LPGA Foundation following her senior year. It's given to a college golfer who maintains a 3.2 grade-point average, plays in at least 50 percent of her team's events, maintains a scoring average of 78 or less and demonstrates leadership skills and a commitment to community service.
Lewis won the award in 2007.
"Stacy's impact on the program is tremendous," said Tubert who finished in a tie for 48th at the Northwest Arkansas Championship as an amateur in 2011. "To have an event here, to have her playing in this event and to have her doing so much for the community and the university, it's incredible.
"What a resource, and how amazing that she does that for us."
Sports on 06/27/2014