Erica Blasberg during a break from the video shoot for Puma Golf

The Associated Press is reporting that the Clark County coroner’s office ruled Tuesday that 25-year-old professional golfer Erica Blasberg’s death was a suicide.

Blasberg died May 9 at her home in Henderson, about 15 miles southeast of the Las Vegas Strip. The coroner’s office said Blasberg died of suicide due to asphyxia, coupled with the presence of toxic levels of prescription medication in her system, including prescription headache, cough, pain and anti-anxiety medications.

“While asphyxia was the primary cause of death, the presence of prescription drugs in Ms. Blasberg’s system was a significant factor,” Coroner Michael Murphy said.

The Henderson Police Department also announced it concluded an extensive investigation Tuesday and determined there was no foul play.
Still, a misdemeanor obstruction of justice arrest warrant was issued for Dr. Thomas Hess for allegedly removing items from the death scene before police arrived at the home.

Police have said a 911 call from Hess summoning police came from the house, and that Blasberg was alone when officers arrived. Blasberg’s agent said her bags were packed for a tournament in Mobile, Ala., when she was found.

The death investigation was complicated, police said, because Hess admitted to altering the scene — including the removal of a note indicating Blasberg took her own life — and he stopped cooperating with detectives. Hess hid the note and prescription medications in his vehicle.

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

A memorial service for Erica Blasberg will be held on Wednesday, May 19th, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. at Eagle Glen Golf Club in Corona (CA). The service is open to the public. Those who wish to send flowers can deliver arrangements to the Eagle Glen Golf Club and cards and letters can be sent for the Blasberg family to REP 1 Sports Group .

Eagle Glen Golf Club, 1800 Eagle Glen Parkway, Corona, CA 92883

REP 1 Sports Group, 2 Corporate Park Ste. #106, Irvine, CA 92606

Cleveland Golf CG TV put together a video slideshow tribute to Erica, that has some terrific photos.

How will you remember Erica?

Erica Blasberg during a break from the video shoot for Puma Golf

I was shocked and saddened to hear that six-year LPGA player Eric Blasberg was found dead yesterday in her Henderson, Nevada home. No cause of death has been disclosed. The 25 year old Blasberg had recently finished tied for 44th at the Tres Marias Championship in Morelia, Mexico in her only start for 2010.

Erica was the face of Puma Golf since 2006, and appeared in commercials and advertisements for the golf brand category.

“PUMA is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of PUMA Athlete and friend, professional golfer Erica Blasberg. A statement athlete for PUMA Golf, Erica has been with PUMA since the brand launched into the golf category in March 2006. Erica was a solid player on the course, and brought a fresh sense of youthfulness, fun, beauty and energy to the brand. She will be greatly missed.

PUMA extends our deepest sympathies to Erica’s family, friends, peers and those on the tour who have worked, played and had the pleasure of knowing her.” – Bob Philion, President of COBRA-PUMA GOLF

I was fortunate enough to get to know Erica at the 2009 PGA Merchandise Show, where I interviewed, and acted with her in a commercial for Puma Golf. I’ll remember Erica for being such a fun and happy person, with a promising career ahead of her on the LPGA.

My thoughts and prayers go out to her family and friends.

Last month I shared my experience and behind the scenes photos of the making of the 2009 PUMA Open promotional videos with Erica Blasberg, Johnny Damon, Kasey Kahne, and Sandra Gal.  Now presenting my acting debut with LPGA star Erica Blasberg and New York Yankee outfielder Johnny Damon in this sketch about getting ready for the PUMA Open. BTW I show up 1:13 in the video.

Have a need for speed?  Watch this video and see why your average golf cart won’t do for NASCAR superstar Kasey Kahne at PUMA Open.

Make sure to register for the PUMA Open coming to 15 cities near you. You don’t want to miss out on great time!

What would you do if you were given the opportunity to hang out with LPGA golfers Erica Blasberg and Sandra Gal, New York Yankees Johnny Damon, NASCAR Superstar Kasey Kahne, but the catch is you have to be in your underwear?

[View with PicLens]

Several days before the video shoot I spoke with the director, to go over the script and my involvement in the video. At the time of speaking with director, my role was very small and had only one line, with very little interaction with the main stars of th scene. I was ok with my small role and quite relieved, and perfectly content with my small part. I was just looking forward to seeing what it takes to make a professional video and maybe hanging out with Erica Blasberg, Johnny Damon, Kasey Kahne, and Sandra Gal. But little did I know what lied ahead of me the day of the video shoot.

The morning of the shoot a car came and picked me up to take me to the set of the video shoot, which was at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Resort in Orlando, Florida. This made me feel like a celebrity, even though I’m an F-list celebrity, it still felt pretty cool. When I went up to the green room, I was one of the first “actors” to arrive at and had no idea what to expect.

After settling in and grabbing a bite to eat, New York Yankees Johnny Damon arrived on set and entered the green room. We shook hands and I introduced myself, at that point I just tried to remain calm and not blurt anything out stupid. Shortly after Johnny had arrived, Erica Blasberg, Kasey Kahne, and Sandra Gal all showed up. Now I’m getting a little nervous, because I’m sitting in a makeshift green room with all these sports athletes and begin wondering, what am I doing here? What do I talk about? Everyone seems to know each other, except me. So I resorted to the common denominator topic, golf and the Puma Open. After a few minutes of conversation about golf and travel, I began to feel at ease with Erica, Johnny, Kasey, and Sandra. It was like hanging out with my friends.

As Erica was getting her makeup done by the makeup artist, the director for the shoot comes in to go over the script and discuss wardrobe for the scene. The director Brent begins to tell us that there has been a change in direction for the scene I was going to be in and that I would have a bigger and better part with more lines. It turns out I would be in a scene with Erica Blasberg and Johnny Damon, and it required me to be in my underwear. Immediately, I start to feel really squeamish and uncomfortable that my worst nightmare has come to fruition. Not only do I have to “act”, but I have to be in my underwear the entire scene. All sorts of thoughts started rushing through my head, like what is my wife going to think? What kind of underwear? I hope its not a pair of Speedos? It turned out that it was pair of boxers, to much of my relief.

Acting out the scene was not as easy as I thought it would be, but Erica and Johnny who are pros at this made me feel right at home when shooting our scene. The two of them were so fun to be around and the crew was also amazing at making me feel comfortable too. The number of bloopers that Erica, Johnny, and I committed during the filming the scene, were too funny and I hope to have these to share sometime soon. I have to admit, that I  grew an appreciation for the hard work and talent that actors do when making a movie and understand why they make the big bucks.  After a couple of hours of doing our scene, I learned so much about what it takes to film a two minute or so video, than I ever did by watching MTV’s Making the Video series.

After our scene was completed, the action was taken outside to the golf course at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Resort, where Kasey Kahne, Erica Blasberg, and Sandra Gal filmed the other videos for the Puma Open. One of the videos featured Kasey Kane driving a turbo charged golf cart, while wearing his Nascar jumpsuit. Another scene also involved a pit crew, which were the production assitants and film crew doing car maintenance on Kasey’s golf cart. By mid afternoon production had wrapped, and I was off to the Orlando Convention Center to cover the rest of the days coverage of the PGA Merchandise Show.

In the end I had such a great time hanging out and getting to know all these athletes, and being able to participate in a totally fun video shoot, even if it required me to be in my underwear.

If you want to have as much fun as I did, you should sign up for the Puma Open, which is going to be in 15 cities this year, up from 9, a year ago. Make sure to visit thepumaopen.com next week to watch the promotional videos I got to be apart of for the 2009 Puma Open.

When I attended the 2008 Puma Open in Chicago, IL  last year I had a blast, and it was unlike any other golf event I have participated in.  During the 2009 PGA Merchandise Show, LPGA golfer and worldwide marketing symbol for Puma Golf Erica Blasberg competed against New York Yankee outfielder Johnny Damon  in a series of events from the Puma Open. 

Watch the video to see what makes the Puma Open a truly remarkable experience that you shouldn’t miss out on. 

For more information on the Puma Open, visit the new redesigned http://www.thepumaopen.com

I hope to see you all at the Chicago Puma Open later this summer.

At the 2009 PGA Merchandise Show, I had the opportunity to hang out and chat with Puma and LPGA rising star Erica Blasberg. During my time with Erica, we talked about Puma Golf, music, life on the road, and the upcoming LPGA season. Erica is one of the most fun and down to earth people you’ll ever meet and very charming. I had a blast talking with her and you’ll see why Puma chose Erica to be their first LPGA golfer signed to Puma Golf. Be sure to follow Erica Blasberg on the LPGA Tour

For more information about Erica Blasberg visit http://golf.puma.com/ and http://www.ericablasberg.com/