Patty Sheehan

Born: Oct. 27, 1956, in Middlebury, Vermont

Tour Victories:
35

Major Championships:
6
• Kraft Nabisco Championship: 1996
• LPGA Championship: 1983, 1984, 1993
• U.S. Women's Open: 1992, 1994

Awards and Honors:
• Member, World Golf Hall of Fame
• Vare Trophy (low scoring average), 1984
• Member, U.S. Solheim Cup team, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996
• Captain, U.S. Solheim Cup team, 2002, 2004
• Member, U.S. Curtis Cup team, 1980
• Member, Collegiate Golf Hall of Fame
• Member, National High School Hall of Fame
• Recipient, Patty Berg Award, 2002

Quote, Unquote:
• Patty Sheehan: "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."

• Former LPGA commissioner Ty Votaw: "Patty is a truly special lady, one of the best players in LPGA history and a classy example of success and excellence in the world of golf."

Trivia:
When Patty Sheehan won the U.S. Women's Open and the Women's British Open in 1992, she became the first golfer to win both in the same year.

Patty Sheehan Biography: Patty Sheehan was born in Vermont but grew up in Nevada, and was one of the top-rated junior snow skiers in the country at one time. But when she turned her attention to golf, it paid off: She won three straight Nevada high school championships (1972-74), three straight Nevada State Amateurs (1975-78) and two straight California Women's Amateurs (1977-78).

She was the runner-up at the 1979 U.S. Women's Amateur, then was the 1980 AIAW (predecessor of NCAA) national collegiate champion. She went 4-0 as a member of the 1980 U.S. Curtis Cup team.

After all that amateur success, Sheehan turned pro in 1980. She won Rookie of the Year honors on the LPGA Tour in 1981 with her first professional victory coming at the Mazda Japan Classic.

Sheehan was strong throughout the 1980s, winning four times in both 1983 and '84, and winning the LPGA Championship in both seasons.

She really reached the heights of stardom in the early '90s, starting off the decade with five wins in 1990. She won the U.S. Open in '92 and '93, the LPGA Championship in '94, and the Kraft Nabisco Championship in '96 - what would prove to be her final LPGA victory.

Sheehan suffered a terrible loss personally in 1989, when her home and possessions were destroyed in the San Francisco earthquake. And she suffered a terrible professional loss in 1990, when - after holding an 11-shot lead during the third round of the U.S. Women's Open - she lost it all, and the tournament, to Betsy King.

But Sheehan rebounded both times, proving her mettle on the course by birdying the final two holes of regulation at the 1992 Women's Open to tie Juli Inkster, then winning the playoff. She won the British Women's Open later that year, but the event was not yet classified as a major.

Sheehan qualified for the LPGA Hall of Fame by winning her 30th tournament in 1993.

Sheehan finished in the Top 10 on the LPGA money list every year from 1982-93; while she never led, she did finish second five times in that span.