Father of Dead LPGA Golfer Erica Blasberg Says It Wasn't Suicide

May 13, 2010— -- The father of golfer Erica Blasberg said that there was "no issue whatsoever" that his daughter was on the verge of suicide and that earlier media reports that he had made that supposition were false.

"I never made any statements," Mel Blasberg told "Good Morning America." "There is no issue whatsoever about Erica being in a situation, doing anything to herself... Emotionally she was so solid."

Blasberg said his daughter's bags were packed for an upcoming tournament and she had been in high spirits coming off a well-played tournament in Mexico earlier that week. He said he played golf with his daughter for hours on Thursday, just three days before her body was found in her Henderson, Nev., home.

"We just had a great day. We just had an enormous day where she was doing things in the way I hadn't seen in a while," he said. Blasberg said his daughter had struggled on the tour in the last year but for that day the "old Erica" was back.

"Her death would be a shock if I hadn't seen her for a year, but I just saw somebody who I was really worried about... I felt so good leaving here. I felt like my daughter's back. I just can't describe it," he said.

Erica Blasberg's mother, Debra Blasberg, had trouble speaking about her late daughter.

"I don't know how I'm going to make it to tomorrow," Debra Blasberg told "Good Morning America." "It's hard to put into words. She was just... I just love her and miss her."

Henderson police have released few details about the young golfer's death and are holding off making the cause of death public pending their investigation and results of a toxicology screening. A spokesperson for the Clark County Coroner said it could take up to 12 weeks to determine the cause of death.

Speculation that the girl committed suicide was apparently sparked by a report in California's The Press-Enterprise which quoted Mel Blasberg as 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."

Blasberg told "Good Morning America" today he never said such a thing, but does not know what caused his daughter's death.

Mel Blasberg said that even if he gets answers, it won't fill the void left by Erica's death.

"It's not going to change the fact that Erica's not going to be here. I don't believe there's such thing as closure. When I get the information, I'm not going to feel much better than I do now," he said. "I miss my daughter."

Erica Blasberg's Bags Packed

Cleveland Golf, the equipment and apparel maker, had sent Blasberg a brand new bag.

"She was the only one in the world who had this special bag because she represents the ladies line," her father told ABC News Tuesday.

He said the new golf bag, along with her travel bag, was in the trunk of her car, ready for her drive to the airport Saturday morning.

"This was a very motivated person to get to Alabama this week," he said.

Blasberg never made her flight.

Henderson police spokesman Keith Paul told ABCNews.com that police responded to a 911 call at Blasberg's suburban three-bedroom house at 3:15 p.m. Sunday. Paul declined to name the person who made the call, saying it was part of the investigation.

But Mel Blasberg told ABC affiliate KTNV that there were no obvious signs of trauma to her body.

Purple ribbons will be worn by the players at the event in Alabama in honor of Blasberg.

"I don't know if it was a suicide or homicide, but I can never imagine her being a person to take her own life or someone wanting to hurt her," her former University of Arizona teammate, Laura Ianello, told ABCNews.com Wednesday.

Greg Allen, her former Arizona coach, said, "I don't know what the reports are going to be," in an interview with ABCNews.com. "I want her to be remembered as that sweet, sweet girl who loved life and being around people, who liked to cut up and have fun."

Her first day of practice at Arizona, Blasberg was given the nickname "Skip."

"The trainer had the team skip and she didn't know how to skip," Allen said. "She was a sweet, innocent, naïve kid."

Fiery on the Green, Girly Off

On the golf course, though, she was a fierce competitor. "She loved to compete," Allen said. "She was fiery, to say the least. She got in trouble a few times -- club slamming. That's how she played."

"She definitely had extremely high expectations for herself," Ianello said. "She could be very aggravated with herself if she didn't shoot well. She did have a temper. She was very aggressive, because she knew she was really good and talented."

Coached by her dad in her hometown of Orange, Calif., Blasberg quickly emerged as a star on the Arizona team, winning six tournaments in two years and becoming a two-time All-American. In 2003, she finished the season No. 1 in the rankings and was named NCAA Freshman of the Year, Pacific-10 Player of the Year and Golfweek's Player of the Year.

But teammate Ianello, now the assistant golf coach at Arizona, said Blasberg didn't gloat about her success. Off the course, she was one of the girls.

"She loved to go shopping, she always had makeup on," Ianello said. "She loved eating out with friends. She was very social, always was up for a good time."

While she was often bubbly, Ianello said Blasberg also remained guarded. Only a few people were really close to her, Ianello said, including Blasberg's boyfriend, Chase Callahan, who met her at Arizona their freshman year even though they came from the same hometown.

The couple broke up but remained friends, and Callahan later became her agent. On Tuesday, he released a statement to the press.

"We are devastated to learn of the passing of Erica Blasberg. To most of the world, Erica was known as a professional golfer, but she was more than that," the statement read. "She was a loving daughter to her parents and a compassionate and loyal friend. Erica had a good heart, was extremely kind and very thankful for what she had in her life."

"She was my daughter so I guess I'm a little bias," Erica's mother, Debra Blasberg said. "But Erica was just... just a regular girl, a sweetheart. And I loved her. I'll miss her."