Sheehan, Patty

Patty Sheehan, in full Patricia Leslie Sheehan, (born October 27, 1956, Middlebury, Vermont, U.S.), American golfer who was one of the most consistent players on the women’s tour throughout the 1980s and ’90s. In 1993 she secured a place in the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Hall of Fame with her 30th career tour victory.

Sheehan first played golf at age 2, when she was given a sawed-off two-iron by her father, who coached football, baseball, golf, and skiing at Middlebury College in Vermont. She was a nationally ranked junior skier at age 13 but quit skiing in favour of golf at 14. Moving to Reno, Nevada, Sheehan won three straight state high-school individual championships. She attended the University of Nevada for three years and won the Nevada state amateur championships in 1975–78. Transferring to California State University at San Jose, she won California’s amateur title in 1978–79 and the national collegiate championship in 1980, the year she turned professional.

After winning her first LPGA tour victory, in 1981 at the Mazda Japan Classic, Sheehan was named Rookie of the Year for that season. She scored four tour victories in 1983, including the LPGA championship, and was named Player of the Year. The following year she repeated the feat, finishing first at the LPGA, as well as recording the tour’s lowest scoring average, 71.40. She did not win another major tournament for eight years.

It seemed to be Sheehan’s year in 1990: she won five tournaments, posted a career-best 70.62 scoring average, shot 29 rounds in the 60s, and became the second woman ever to earn $700,000 in a season. She led the U.S. Women’s Open by nine strokes on the final, 36-hole day, and her 12-under-par score at one point made her the first golfer ever to reach 10 under par at any stage of a men’s or women’s U.S. Open. But she then lost the lead to Betsy King for her third second-place finish in nine Opens.

When Sheehan finally won the Open in 1992, she had to win an 18-hole play-off against college teammate Juli Inkster. Sheehan became the 13th member of the LPGA Hall of Fame on November 13, 1993, after qualifying with her 30th tour victory, on March 21, with a tournament record of 17 under par at the Standard Register Ping in Phoenix, Arizona. Later that year Sheehan made the LPGA championship her fourth major and 31st career win. She captured another pair of majors—the U.S. Women’s Open in 1994 and the Nabisco Dinah Shore in 1996—and finished her career with an impressive 35 tour wins. Sheehan remained active on the senior tour circuit, and she captained the 2003 U.S. Solheim Cup team.