By Rhonda Glenn, USGA
In 1992, Patty Sheehan stood on the 18th green of the famed Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club, the Harton S. Semple U.S. Women’s Open Trophy clasped securely in her arms. Spectators cheered the combative little player, barely 5-feet 3-inches tall and weighing this side of 130 pounds.
They had cheered her brave birdies on the 71st and 72nd holes on Sunday to tie and her two-stroke win in the 18-hole playoff on Monday against good friend and rival, Juli Inkster. Many also remembered Sheehan’s tragic downfall in the championship two years earlier, so they applauded the courage with which she had fought her way back.
Sheehan’s thrilling victory in the 1992 U.S. Women’s at Oakmont is forever rooted in her infamous collapse at the 1990 Women’s Open at the Atlanta Athletic Club.
"I had so many top finishes in the Open and wanted desperately to win one," said Sheehan, who finished second three times.
At the Atlanta Athletic Club, it looked as if 1990 would finally be the year. Early in the third
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Two years after proving she could win the Women's Open, patty Sheehan did it again at the Old Course at Indianwood Golf and Country Club in Lake Orion, Mich. (Robert Walker/USGA) |
round, Sheehan had a seemingly insurmountable 12-stroke lead over Betsy King. How could she lose? But it was a wet week. Three days of rain caused repeated delays and forced the field to play 36 holes the final day.
Sheehan, then 36, was exhausted, and her concentration wavered. She played the last 33 holes in nine over par, relinquishing her lead and the championship to King by a stroke.
"My loss was not as devastating as one might think," said Sheehan, years later. "The most important thing I learned was that I had to hydrate better, eat more nutritious food more often, and get more rest."
Because of the incessant delays, Sheehan was one of the players required to get up early and then stay in the locker room for hours waiting for the rain to stop. On Saturday, half the field spent the entire day at the course trying to finish the second round. A fidgety Sheehan paced the locker room for hours. By the final round, her energy was completely spent.
Sheehan is thoughtful and introspective but also blessed with a sunny disposition. She rebounded quickly from her awful collapse. Just one week later, she tied Beth Daniel at the Phar-Mor, a regular LPGA Tour event. While she lost a playoff, her performance was a personal victory.
An injury prevented a good showing in the 1991 U.S. Women’s Open at Colonial C.C. in Fort Worth, Texas. Sheehan’s left pointer finger was painful and she taped it in order to play. The following week, X-rays showed her knuckle was broken. Still, she finished 14th.
The U.S. Women’s Open is always played on great courses, but none as well known as Oakmont. The 1992 championship was to be a triumph for women’s golf. Judy Bell, a former amateur standout who was then a member of the USGA Executive Committee, set up the championship course. She created a test that demanded accurate driving, sharp iron play and superior putting. "I wanted a fair examination with the players using all the clubs in the bag," said Bell. "I thought being at Oakmont was terrific. The course, the tradition, it was all there."
"Knowing that we were playing a famous course like Oakmont was such a great opportunity for us to showcase our talents on such a stern test," said Sheehan. "I also heard that nobody was giving us a chance to break par at Oakmont."
Sheehan’s longtime caddie, Carl Laib, spent the week before the championship plotting the course and getting to know the greens.
"When I arrived, he had it all planned out," Sheehan said. "I wasn’t going to hit many drivers. As the week went on and the rain collected, the rough became very thick. It was all the more reason to keep the ball in the fairway. Fairways and greens were so important. On almost every swing Carl reminded me of my tempo."
The week before, Sheehan had played with her brother Steve and friend Rebecca Gaston at the demanding Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course at Lake Tahoe. She had shot 71 from the tips.
"I was so jazzed about that, knowing it was a great score," said Sheehan. "So, I had confidence going into the Open. My incentive for the week was to break par."
Sheehan was also having a good year. It was an era of fine players on the LPGA Tour. King, Daniel and Colleen Walker were playing well, while Nancy Lopez and Pat Bradley were still winning, just not as frequently as in the past. It was now July 23 and Sheehan had won twice since June 28, including a nine-stroke victory over runner-up Lopez at the Rochester International.
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At Oakmont, Sheehan and Inkster, her former college teammate at San Jose State, shared the lead after 54 holes. They were the only players under par (2-under 211), and they were paired together for the final round. They matched each other, shot for shot.
"Competitively, it felt like match play in the fourth round," said Bell. "They responded so well to each other’s good shots."
Late in the round, Sheehan appeared to crack. She three-putted No. 16 for a bogey and fell two strokes behind with two holes remaining.
"I was so mad," said Sheehan. "Then, just after we hit our tee shots on 17, we were walking up the hill and the siren went off [to discontinue play because of lightning]. You could just see from Juli’s reaction that the air went out of her. I, on the other hand, was happy as I felt it gave me a chance to regroup."
Inkster and Sheehan adjourned to the clubhouse. Sheehan ran into her friend Gaston. "We chatted briefly, and some of what she said really motivated me," said Sheehan.
Sheehan sat alone at her locker. She had learned from 1990 that rest and diversion from the pressure of the final round was good therapy. She found a television showing highlights of the Olympic Games in Barcelona.
"I watched them to try to take my mind off things, and those athletes really motivated me," she said. "I was now rested and full of energy to finish the round."
Following a brief warm-up, the players returned to the course. "I hit a good shot to the 17th green, hole high," Sheehan said. "Juli almost made birdie, so I still had a chance. I now was so focused it seemed that nothing was going to stop me. I wasn’t nervous. I drilled that [10-foot] birdie putt, and the adrenaline started pumping."
Inkster made par. One stroke behind, one hole to play.
"On the 18th tee, I said, ‘Just get it in the fairway,’" she said.
But she missed the fairway with her drive and was on the edge of the right rough in heavy, wet grass.
"When I reached my ball I was in casual water and asked for a ruling," Sheehan said. "All this time Juli was pacing."
Ann Beard, chairman of the USGA Women’s Committee, was the Rules official walking with Inkster and Sheehan. "I could see right away that her nearest point of relief from the casual water was to the left of her ball and in the fairway," Beard said. "Of course, she was delighted to hear this good news. She most likely would have had trouble advancing the ball very far from the wet lie that a drop in the rough would have provided."
"I thought, ‘Alright!’" Sheehan said. "I dropped it and had an uphill lie with 156 yards to the flagstick. I pulled out a 5-iron, hit it pretty well, and it came up 18 feet short with an uphill putt for birdie."
Inkster had put her approach about 20 feet under the hole.
"She putted safely to within a foot, which opened the door for me," Sheehan said.
Facing a must-make putt of 18 feet, Sheehan focused on the task.
"My putt was similar to Amy Alcott’s putt earlier in the week when I had been paired with her," said Sheehan. "Amy’s broke left, which I thought was odd. I remembered that, though. I lined up my putt to break slightly left. The last thing I said to myself was get the ball to the hole."
Bell was right. It was all right there. Oakmont had once again identified two of the best players in the game, and a championship was coming down to a final putt. It was eerily quiet as Sheehan stood over her ball, as if everyone was holding their breath. The ball rolled across the green and fell in the hole.
"It went in, and I have never felt so powerful as I did at that moment," said Sheehan. "The crowd reaction was the loudest I have ever heard."
Sheehan trotted around the green in excitement. The roar was for her, and she hadn’t even won, but she had birdied the final two holes to tie. After the debacle in 1990, it was a tremendous display of courage.
"I think the 1990 loss made such a difference in my resolve knowing that I could never be as disappointed as I felt then," she said. "Knowing that made me free up and play without fear or nervousness."
The following day, Sheehan produced a storybook ending by winning the playoff against Inkster, 72-74.
"Winning the Women’s Open was a defining moment of my career," said Sheehan. "I had so many top finishes in the Open and wanted desperately to win one. It wasn’t the field that was so difficult in the Open but the course set-up. It is the most demanding of all tournaments."
Inkster would go on to win the U.S. Women’s Open twice, in 1999 and 2002. Beard would end her second season as chairman of the USGA Women’s Committee. Four years later, Bell became the first female USGA president. That casual-water ruling would serve as an example in USGA-PGA Rules Workshops for years to come. In 1996, Bell became the first female USGA president.
And Patty Sheehan? She would go on to win the U.S. Women’s Open again, in 1994, at Indianwood Golf & Country Club. But this Women’s Open – the historic comeback from humiliating defeat – would remain the most special of her career.
Rhonda Glenn is a manager of communications for the USGA. E-mail her with questions or comments at rglenn@usga.org.
