Patty Sheehan (born October 27, 1956) is an American professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1980 and won six major championships and 35 LPGA Tour events in all. She is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.
In 1956, Sheehan was born in Middlebury, Vermont. She was rated one of the top junior snow skiers in the country as a 13-year-old.
Shortly thereafter, her family moved to Nevada. Sheehan attended Earl Wooster High School in Reno, Nevada. She won three straight Nevada high school championships (1972–74).
Sheehan attended University of Nevada and San Jose State University. During this era, she won three straight Nevada State Amateurs (1975–78) and two straight California Women's Amateur Championships (1977–78).
She was the runner-up at the 1979 U.S. Women's Amateur, then was the 1980 AIAW national individual intercollegiate golf champion. She went 4–0 as a member of the 1980 U.S. Curtis Cup team. She won the Broderick Award in 1980.
In 1980, Sheehan turned professional and joined the LPGA Tour. She won LPGA Rookie of the Year honors in 1981 with her first professional victory coming at the Mazda Japan Classic. She was strong throughout the 1980s, winning four times in both 1983 and 1984, and winning the LPGA Championship in both seasons. She won LPGA Tour Player of the Year in 1983 and was one of several athletes named Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year in 1987.
She suffered a professional loss in 1990, when after holding an 11-shot lead during the third round of the U.S. Women's Open, she lost the tournament to Betsy King.
Sheehan started off the 1990s with five wins in 1990. She won the U.S. Women's Open in 1992 and 1994, the Mazda LPGA Championship in 1995, and the Nabisco Dinah Shore (now known as the Kraft Nabisco Championship) in 1996. That would be her final LPGA victory. She qualified for the LPGA Hall of Fame by winning her 30th tournament in 1993. She finished in the Top 10 on the LPGA money list every year from 1982 to 1993. While she never led, she did finish second five times in that span. When she 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.
Sheehan played on the U.S. Solheim Cup team five times (1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2002) and captained the team in 2002 and 2003.
Sheehan also hosts the Patty Sheehan & Friends, which is a tournament on the Legends Tour. Patty Sheehan & Friends helps aid women and children's charities all across Northern Nevada.
In 1989, Sheehan suffered a loss personally when her home and possessions were destroyed in the Loma Prieta earthquake.
Sheehan became one of the first LPGA players to publicly announce that she was a lesbian. Sheehan and her partner Rebecca Gaston have two children.
In June 2020, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the first LGBTQ Pride parade, Queerty named her among the fifty heroes "leading the nation toward equality, acceptance, and dignity for all people".
Sheehan is a member of the National High School Hall of Fame.
In 1980, Sheehan earned the Honda Sports Award in the golf category. The award is bestowed to the top female collegiate golfer.
Sheehan is also a member of the Collegiate Golf Hall of Fame.
In 1981, Sheehan earned LPGA Rookie of the Year honors.
In 1983, she won LPGA Tour Player of the Year award.