Patty Sheehan

Hometown

Middlebury

Vermont

Year Inducted

1993

Inducted Category

Competitor

Birthdate

Oct 27,1956

Major Championships: 6

LPGA Championship: 1983, 1984, 1993
U.S. Women’s Open: 1992, 1994
Nabisco Dinah Shore: 1996

Additional LPGA Tour Wins: 29

1981: Mazda Japan Classic
1982: Orlando Lady Classic, SAFECO Classic, Inamori Classic
1983: Corning Classic, Henredon Classic, Inamori Classic
1984: Elizabeth Arden Classic, McDonald’s Kids Classic, Henredon Classic
1985: Sarasota Classic, J&B Scotch Pro-Am
1986: Sarasota Classic, Kyocera Inamori Classic, Konica San Jose Classic
1988: Sarasota Classic, Mazda Japan Classic
1989: Rochester International
1990: The Jamaica Classic, McDonald’s Championship, Rochester International, PING-Cellular One LPGA Golf Championship, SAFECO Classic
1991: Orix Hawaiian Ladies Open
1992: Rochester International, Jamie Farr Toledo Classic
1993: Standard Register PING
1995: Rochester International, SAFECO Classic

Amateur Wins: 8

1975: Nevada State Amateur
1976: Nevada State Amateur
1977: California Women’s Amateur, Nevada State Amateur
1978: California Women’s Amateur, Nevada State Amateur
1980: AIAW National Championship Title, U.S. Curtis Cup

Additional Wins: 4

1992: Women’s British Open, Wendy’s Three-Tour Challenge, Daikan Orchid Ladies Championship
1994: JCPenney/LPGA Skins Game

Legends Tour Wins: 3

2002: Copps Great Lakes Classic
2005: BJ’s Charity Championship (with Pat Bradley)
2006: World Ladies Senior Open

Solheim Cup Appearances: 6

Wins in bold

Player: 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996
Captain: 2002, 2003

Curtis Cup Appearances

Wins in Bold

1980

Awards & Honors:

Broderick Award, Best Collegiate Female Athlete (Golf): 1980
San Jose State University Sports Hall of Fame: 1980
Rookie of the Year: 1981
Player of the Year: 1983
Golf Magazine Player of the Year Award: 1983
Vare Trophy: 1984
Female Player of the Year, GWAA: 1984, 1993
Golf Digest-LPGA Founders Cup: 1985
Samaritan Award: 1986
Sportsman of the Year, Sports Illustrated: 1987
Charlie Bartlett Award: 1988
Collegiate Golf Hall of Fame: 1990
Flo Hyman Award: 1994
San Jose Sports Hall of Fame: 1999
Patty Berg Award: 2002
National High School Hall of Fame: 2005
Northern California Golf Association: 2019

It is a tribute of a person’s fortitude that she is at her best when life seems at its worst. That, then, says it all about Patty Sheehan, who has twice answered adversity with achievement, and who has proven that heart and courage mean as much in golf as talent. When you grow up as a downhill skier, you learn how to pick yourself up, and that’s what Sheehan has done.

In 1989, Sheehan lost her house, her trophies and nearly all of her life savings in the San Francisco earthquake. She came back the next year to win five tournaments and more than $732,000. Nearly all of that money went to pay bills, but it was the tournament she lost in 1990 that represented as much potential devastation to her career as the earthquake did to her financial security.

The U.S. Women’s Open was played at the Atlanta Athletic Club. Sheehan had an 11-stroke lead in the third round and ended up losing it all to Betsy King. As Sheehan later said, “I had owned the Open. It was in my hands. I could break a leg and still shoot well enough to win, but I hadn’t been able to do it.”

“I saw myself as a winner from a very young age. I played with boys all my life, and I seemed to be their equal, if not better. I never thought of myself as anything less than a winner. To be successful, you need drive, determination and a belief in yourself, and some kind of peacefulness about what you’re doing.”

Two years later, Sheehan came to Oakmont Country Club after two consecutive victories. She birdied the 71st and 72nd holes, then went on to defeat Juli Inkster in a playoff. She won the Open again in 1994, but the victory in 1992 at Oakmont was her crowning achievement.

“It was such a great comeback from 1990, and emotionally it healed so many wounds,” Sheehan told writer Liz Kahn. “It was the most significant win of my career because I overcame so much doubt. It would have been very hard to live the rest of my life without winning an Open. Now I feel I’m on vacation from adversity and that 1992 Open victory made me a different person-much happier and more content. If I never win another tournament, I’m still complete because that was the one I wanted.”

Sheehan grew up in Middlebury, Vermont, and Lake Tahoe, Nevada. Her father, Bobo, was a college ski coach in Vermont and also an Olympic ski coach. As the only girl in the family, Sheehan learned how to compete to survive. She was as good a football player as her three brothers, and at 13, Sheehan was ranked the No. 1 downhill skier for her age in the country. Golf was a secondary sport until Sheehan reached age 18, when her handicap was down to scratch and the University of Nevada-Reno offered her a scholarship.

As an amateur, Sheehan won state titles in Nevada and California, the AIAW National Championship for San Jose State, and was runner-up in the 1979 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship. She was undefeated on the 1980 Curtis Cup team and earned Rookie of the Year honors on the LPGA Tour in 1981.

Fact

Patty Sheehan was one of the Olympic torchbearers for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Utah.

“I was always very competitive,” Sheehan said. “I saw myself as a winner from a very young age. I played with boys all my life, and I seemed to be their equal, if not better. I never thought of myself as anything less than a winner. To be successful, you need drive, determination and a belief in yourself, and some kind of peacefulness about what you’re doing.”

That attitude resulted in one of the most successful careers in LPGA history. Sheehan won 35 tournaments, including the two U.S. Women’s Opens, three LPGA Championships and a Dinah Shore. In 1995, she qualified for the Hall of Fame with a win at the SAFECO Classic. “I feel inside I should be there because I stepped up and achieved that level and there’s a place for me beside those greats,” Sheehan said. “I’m not bragging. I just feel that way.”

Patty Sheehan was originally inducted through the LPGA category.