Patty Sheehan - Part 1 (The Early Years)

Intro Music 0:07

Straight down the middle. It went straight down the middle.

Mike Gonzalez 0:13

Welcome to another edition of FORE the Good of the Game and Bruce Devlin. We've got what uh maybe one of the greatest players, male or female, that's ever played this game. Do you know what she was doing this weekend?

Bruce Devlin 0:30

I got a pretty good idea. I know she lives out there in uh in the valley in California, so and there was a men's golf tournament there. I wonder what she was probably going to see all of her old friends. What a spectacular career this lady has had. Six major championships, 41 victories, 35 of them on the LPGA tour. And it is indeed a great pleasure to have Patty Sheehan with us today. Patty, welcome. Mike and I have been looking forward to this for a long time.

Patty Sheehan 1:03

Well, thank you, Bruce. And I'm just I'm so honored that the two of you would ask me to be on your podcast. And um, you know, I'll try my best to remember as much as I can.

Bruce Devlin 1:15

Yeah, I know the feeling. Don't worry.

Mike Gonzalez 1:19

We will prompt you with uh with certain facts that may help you, but uh why don't you tell our listeners uh and and maybe those listening 50 years from now won't care as much, but it's kind of cool what you did this weekend.

Patty Sheehan 1:31

Oh, well, this weekend uh the the men's champions tour, the PGA champions tour was here in Mission Hills, and I own a little condo here. And uh we certainly miss um you know the dinosaur tournament being here. Um, you know, that's that was a a real bummer that it left, but it was replaced by the champions tour, and um I got to go and uh be a volunteer. I signed up to be a volunteer and I was a walking scorer for the week and uh really enjoyed seeing the guys, uh met some new guys, and uh, you know, it was a real uh pleasure to watch really good golf. I I really enjoyed it. I it was funny because you know I haven't I haven't really played in uh competitively in like 23 years. So I haven't I don't have that built-up concentration length of time. So in about three hours into the you know, doing all of my inputting of the statistics and stuff, I started to mess up and I'm like, oh no, I'm losing my concentration. So I had to call scoring central a f a few times to correct a couple of things, but it was so fun, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Bruce Devlin 2:46

Ah, that's great of you to do something like that.

Mike Gonzalez 2:49

Yeah, it sure is. So as you know, we sort of start at the beginning with these stories of all these golf greats, and uh, of course, you're joining Kathy Whitworth and Joanne Carner and Judy Rankin and Sandy Haney and all the ones that came before you. And so, uh as Bruce said, delighted to have you. Why don't you just take us back to the very beginning, growing up, uh born in Vermont, and take us through what life was like growing up as a little girl out there?

Patty Sheehan 3:14

Yeah, yeah, I was uh I was born in Middlebury, Vermont. Um, my parents are from Vermont originally, they met in the seventh grade, and um my mom fell in love with my dad because uh his parents were uh bakery bakers, and every day he'd come to school smelling like donuts. So she was pretty cool. Yeah, yeah, she liked that, and uh so they uh they got together uh from the very beginning in seventh grade and uh uh never really left Vermont for a long time. Um they both were skiers, um, they both loved to play golf, and they were all uh my dad was a good baseball player and football player, and I mean he was just a great athlete, and my mom was a good athlete too. Um so I got real lucky um with some genetics there, and um, I was I was the fourth of four kids, and I was the only girl. So I grew up with three older brothers. Um, and you can imagine like Pat Bradley having to having to you know fight your way into the the pack. Um it was fun though. I loved having three older brothers, they were great, great for me and uh so supportive. Um, but I was born in Middlebury uh in the middle of a football game in which my dad was the running back coach at Middlebury College, and so they announced my arrival on the PA system at halftime. And uh little did they know, and the the the crowd of about 35 people cheered like hell because Bobo finally got a little girl.

Bruce Devlin 5:01

Yeah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

Patty Sheehan 5:03

So um that was that was uh I guess a pretty big moment in his life. Uh he probably had no idea if he was having a boy or a girl way back when.

Bruce Devlin 5:13

Sure. Yeah.

Patty Sheehan 5:14

So um uh that was how I came into the world. And uh having three older brothers was great. I I had tried to intimidate or in imitate everything that they did because they were all very good um in sports too. Uh none of us were good at school, um, none of us graduated college, um, but we all survived and had great careers doing different things. So um thank goodness I had three older brothers that um I could you know learn a lot from. And and you know, it was both good and bad. There were there were times when my brothers made really bad decisions that I learned from. And uh so I kind of grew up sort of a little goody two shoes because my brothers taught me a lot of the really dumb things to avoid.

Mike Gonzalez 6:00

There you go. I think I taught my sister a few stupid things as well. Yeah.

Patty Sheehan 6:07

So, but I um I learned how to ski. My dad was uh Olympic uh ski coach in 1956 over in Cortina, Italy. And as a matter of fact, that's where I was conceived. Um, but I was born into a ski family, and uh my first love was ski racing. So when I was little, I was um I was I was about four years old, and I went in my first ski race. It was a lollipop race, and if you finished the the race, you got a lollipop, and that was my first trophy. So um I was always um uh sort of motivated by food, I guess, from then on.

Mike Gonzalez 6:48

Well, you had the donut connection, you know, so that's right.

Patty Sheehan 6:51

A lot of sugar in this family. So um, yeah, that's where I started ski racing was back in Vermont. And um as uh a lot of people know, the Vermont um snow is not really snow, it's ice. And you ski on ice, you race on ice, and um you you learn how to use your edges in skiing. So um I grew up uh you know trying to emulate my brothers in ski racing. They were all so into racing, and um so I just sort of progressed along. Um and then uh um about the same time, three or four, I I started playing golf, which I don't know if I could really say that I played golf. I had a two-iron that was cut down, my dad cut it down, and um my parents loved the game of golf, and they would take me to the course, which was only less than a mile from our house, and um they would take me for two holes. You know, I was three or four years old, had had one club, and um my mom had a little seat on the back of her pool cart. So when I got tired, I'd sit down and go for a ride. And uh so I learned how to drive, chip putt, and do everything else in between with a two-iron.

Bruce Devlin 8:11

And um not many of them around today, by the way.

Patty Sheehan 8:14

There aren't many of them around, and um no wonder I didn't like the game very much at that time.

Mike Gonzalez 8:21

I couldn't have picked a harder club to start with, huh?

Patty Sheehan 8:24

Well, you know, I think it was one that dad didn't like, so he said, let's cut this one down, get rid of it.

Mike Gonzalez 8:29

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So they took you around and uh uh was there much teaching, or was it more just as a as at that age, just come out and have fun with us?

Patty Sheehan 8:40

Yeah, come out and have fun. Um they put me in um little you know, beginner classes with the uh some of the other kids. There was probably three or four of us, um, which is pretty a lot for Middlebury College. Um, and I got taught initially by the pro there. Um and the it was they were half-hour um half-hour lessons, and the biggest thing that I remember about that was hitting the balls as fast as we could, and then go running and picking up the balls as fast as we could. And the, you know, the first one done got a, I don't know, a prize of some sort. But it was always uh, you know, competition from the very beginning. So um that's how I um learned a little bit about golf. But I think primarily my biggest teacher was my mom. Um I caddied for her uh starting at about the age of seven or eight, and I caddied for her, and she would play in you know ladies' day tournaments and things, and I'd pull her cart and learn about etiquette and rules, and um, you know, really just how to be uh social with your players. And um so I think she probably taught me more initially about golf than anybody else.

Bruce Devlin 10:01

Well, so you know you're the 69th great player that we've had the pleasure of uh having on this podcast. And I might say you're the only one that had skiing as their first sport. I think you're right. I don't know.

Patty Sheehan 10:16

Have you had Pat Bradley on yet?

Bruce Devlin 10:19

Not yet. Not yet, but we we we hope to get her on soon.

Patty Sheehan 10:23

Yeah, yeah. She might have she might tell you a similar story. Her her parents owned a ski shop, like my parents owned a ski shop. And her brother ski raced, and she ski raced. And I mean it's we're very parallel in a lot of things that um we did as kids.

Bruce Devlin 10:41

Oh, that's great.

Mike Gonzalez 10:42

So, I mean, you were a you were a top junior snow skier uh at a young age, you know, up till age 13 or so. So when did when did golf kind of start competing on a more equal plane with your skiing career?

Patty Sheehan 10:56

Well, we we moved west when I was 10 years old. Um we moved from Middlebury to uh basically Lake Tahoe, California. And um when I was 10, uh 10 and 11, I went from being uh uh four or five, which is the youngest kids, to um competing with uh 14 and 15 year olds my first year that I was out there because I had all this you know great training in Vermont. I knew how to you know ski fast and you know, like my dad would always say, go like hell. And uh so I I progressed really quickly out there. Um so when I was like 12, um I got bumped up to the 16 and 17 year olds. So I was keying skiing with 16 and 17-year-olds when I was 13. Um and I was, you know, I was kind of holding my own. I obviously didn't ri win too many races when I was that that age, but they didn't like me at all, those 16 and 17-year-olds, and having a 13-year-old out there you know, doing pretty well. And um so I didn't have a lot of friends, you know, in that in that time frame uh when I was ski racing. So um I had you know, I didn't wasn't having any fun anymore. And I was having a tough time figuring out whether I should continue, and I kept thinking, oh man, dad's gonna be so upset when I tell him I don't want to ski race anymore. So finally one day I got up enough nerve at 13 uh and I said, Dad, I don't want to ski race anymore. And he says that was the greatest day of his life because he didn't have to give up and freeze his ass off anymore.

Bruce Devlin 12:54

There you go. Perfect.

Patty Sheehan 12:56

So that's how I kind of got switched over. I I had been playing golf a little bit uh up until then, and once I quit ski racing, I didn't have anything going on uh competitively for me, and I realized that I really enjoyed competition. Yeah, and um so I uh we lived next to a golf course in Reno. We had moved to Reno, and we lived next to a golf course there, and we became members, and I started playing in the summer after I quit ski racing because I realized I was sitting around the pool eating cheeseburgers and fries and getting kind of chubby, and uh I thought, you know, I gotta do something a little more active. So I would go out and I'd hit balls and stuff at the range, and my pa my mom would take me, you know, for nine holes or whatever, and um uh I I can remember just about that age of playing with my mom and dad. And um my dad was like a six, and my mom was like an 18 or something. And so I was playing with them one day, and I, you know, I was I'd get mad at myself for missing a shot. You know, I thought I was should be better than I was and so I I hit a shot into a bunker um on the fourth hole of our course, and uh, you know, I hit a lousy shot out, or I didn't get out, or something, and I was mad, and I just walked out of the bunker and picked up my bag and said, my my dad says, wait a minute, you get back in there and you rake that bunker before you do anything else. And uh so I'm like, oh, I guess I overstepped my bounds. I need to need to smarten up here. And um, so I, you know, I was put in my place and uh was taught a quick lesson um that you just can't, you know, it's not your golf course, you need to take care of it. And so um, so I went back in there and you know, raked it best I could and carried on. And um, you know, I probably was a little quiet after that, but you know, it was a good lesson, and um and my parents were really good at making you lessons. I was learning good lessons, yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 15:17

Good for them.

Patty Sheehan 15:18

Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 15:19

So you you competed uh at a pretty high level in a couple of individual sports. Did you play any team sports growing up?

Patty Sheehan 15:26

I did, I love team sports. I played, you know, in in uh junior high school and uh in high school I played basketball and volleyball and I ran track and um I you know I tried to do as much as I could because you know what else am I gonna do? So I I did all the sports and loved them. And you know, when I was a kid in Vermont, we grew up with sporting equipment, and that's all we had for toys. So uh I was pretty uh pretty spoiled in that regard. Um yeah, I I learned how to pole vault. My brother was a great pole vaulter, he won the Vermont State pole vault championship in high school, and so we had pole vaulting pit in the backyard and uh just weird stuff like that. Um ski jump. Yeah, well, we didn't have a ski jump, but we tried. Um, you know, there were times when we had enough snow and and we had did have a little hill. We tried to to ski jump, but we had a ski jump up at uh Middlebury College Snow Bowl, and um it was a fifth 50 meter, which is pretty big, and um we all used to jump off of it.

Mike Gonzalez 16:30

So it was the reason the reason we ask about the you know team sports, individual sports, uh a lot of these folks that we've talked to, they did sort of gravitate toward the solitude of golf at some point uh as a youngster, like you mentioned being kind of hard to make ski friends when you're competing against kids three, four years older than you. Yeah, but at some point they just uh people love the solitude of of uh of of the game of golf.

Patty Sheehan 16:57

Yeah, I you know it's interesting. I I really didn't like you know, I wasn't really madly in love with golf when I was uh an early teenager. Um, but I realized that I could compete with the rest of the girls in town and beat them a lot of times, and I really enjoyed winning. Um just like I enjoyed winning skacing, I enjoyed winning in golf. So I sort of gravitated that way, you know, fairly early in my teenage years. Uh, and then um uh when I was uh see 15, I guess, um Title IX came about.

Mike Gonzalez 17:39

Sure, yeah.

Patty Sheehan 17:40

And we were I was uh a sophomore in high school when when we got Title IX, and we were able to put together a golf team and play around the state, and that was a big deal for for women. And uh I was just you know, I was on the the ground floor of that um happening, and it it was really I didn't really realize what a big deal it was until later on, and and and uh so that was that was cool. I mean, we put together a team, we won I won three straight high school championships, and um my team was right there behind me, and it was it was great fun. I love that. And um, I'll never forget we played a nine-hole match down in Cars Carson City, which is about 40 minutes away from Reno. We played in the afternoon after school, and then we got back to town, and um I played in a uh a girls' powder puff football game after that. So it was fun. I mean, I went from an individual sport to a team sport like within seconds, and uh just had a blast. I mean, I really enjoyed the girls that we all played with and the the girls that wanted to play some football. And you know, I'd grown up playing football with my brothers, and it so it that to me was a blast.

Bruce Devlin 19:04

You also had a bit of a fascination for a golf course that we see a lot of golf tournaments on Pebble Beach. I know you were pretty successful playing around there too.

Patty Sheehan 19:14

Yeah, I I was uh I was lucky. I got to play uh Pebble Beach for the California State Amateur back in those days, and that's where I met Julie Inkster. Um uh played against her. She was 16. I think she had just basically just started playing golf, and she was phenomenal. Um, and so I had uh the opportunity to play against her to match play, and um I think I beat her on the 19th or 20th hole or something, but um, you know, I hadn't heard about her. I hadn't heard about a lot of the ladies I played against in California. So um it was uh I opener for me to go down and play Pebble Beach, and I was really super lucky um that I could get on and play Cypress Point. Um and I could I played Cypress Point um when I was down there for that tournament. That to me was like flying and going to heaven. I've never that's my favorite course of all time, and you know, being able to play Pebble and Cypress and uh just being in the 17-mile drive, it's just a magical place, as you guys know.

Bruce Devlin 20:24

It's it is it's so special.

Patty Sheehan 20:27

Um and you know, being able to win it on Pebble Beach, um, not once but twice, that was that was I that was amazing. I mean, I little girl from Nevada, nobody who knowed knew who I was, and I came out of nowhere and I won the tournament twice. Yeah, so that was that was amazing.

Mike Gonzalez 20:48

Well, you had a remarkable junior and amateur career, and we're gonna talk about some of the other accomplishments. But before we do, I just want to ask you who were some of the early influences on you as a as a youngster playing golf? Uh were there professionals that you were able to rub shoulders with or had exposure to?

Patty Sheehan 21:07

Yeah, uh a couple. Um, you know, obviously Kathy Whitworth was was like the name uh that I had heard of uh when I was younger. Um I didn't know anything about her really. I just had heard her name and it sounded like a regal, you know, like she should wear a crown or something kind of name. And um so I'd heard about her. Um I had um met uh Suzy Burning at my club uh when I was about 16, I guess. Um and I was, you know, I was starting to get a little bit better. And I met George Archer too, and I I got to play with them nine holes one time, and um I I knew that Susie had won three US opens by then. I didn't know much about George Archer. Um, but he was this tall, lanky guy and beautiful swing and hit the ball a mile, and and I got to play with them, and um, I had this really strong hook uh hook grip. So, you know, I I would hook the ball all the time. And uh about on the fifth or sixth hole, you know, I hit these, I've been hitting this hook and getting frustrated and stuff, and they could see I was getting frustrated, and then they and they pulled me aside and they said, Patty, says, they said, you know, you you're never gonna do anything in golf until you change your grip. And I just went, oh, okay. So I finished out my nine holes with them, and I went straight to my pro Ed Jones. I said, Eddie, I have to change my grip. And so we worked on it for a couple of days probably, you know, and it just felt horrible. And I was like, I don't know if this is really what I need to do, but I'm gonna try and stay with it. So I would I would be driving my car. I just got my license 16. I'm driving my car with the grip. I'd be up on the ski hill and I'd be I'd play with my holes, and you know, I mean, I I tried everything I could to get that feeling of a good grip that was comfortable, yeah. You know I could trust it and and understand that this is the grip that's gonna change my life, and it did.

Bruce Devlin 23:36

And it did.

Patty Sheehan 23:37

One thing that changed my life in golf was I had to change my grip. And I did, and you know, it was as you know, it was life-changing.

Bruce Devlin 23:48

Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 23:49

Bruce, we've heard a few other stories like that from players that started out with that strong, you know, you could see all four knuckles that left hand and and had to roll it back onto the top and get rid of that swooping hook because as they were told, you're not gonna win a lot of golf turns snipe and hooking it out there.

Bruce Devlin 24:04

Well, sim I had a similar thing too. I I used to hook it all the time, and I then I kept playing with the good players, and I keep saying them with a fairly neutral grip, and I said, you know, if I'm ever gonna get any better, I gotta change my grip. And I'm telling you, it you I don't know how long it took you, but it took me about nine months before I really felt comfortable standing up on the T with a grip that was foreign to me from how I grew up.

Patty Sheehan 24:31

Yeah, it it took a long time, and that's why I said I was I was you know, summertime I found out about this grip, and in the winter time I'm still trying to get it on my ski poles. So it took quite a while, and you know, I understand when I play with people and they're like, you know, if you see anything um that you want to tell me, I'm like, all right.

Bruce Devlin 24:57

I'll I'll tell you, but it's gonna ruin you for the day.

Patty Sheehan 25:02

You don't have to change it now, but you might want to talk about changing it in the future. But it's you know, it's it starts with a grip.

Mike Gonzalez 25:09

Yeah, yeah. You asked for it.

Patty Sheehan 25:11

Yeah, you asked for it. You got it.

Mike Gonzalez 25:14

So let's let's talk about this record. You mentioned three straight individual high school titles uh uh playing for your for Earl Wooster High School, right?

Patty Sheehan 25:24

Right.

Mike Gonzalez 25:25

Yeah, yeah, Wooster Colts. Uh you had a little bit of success in the Nevada amateur.

Patty Sheehan 25:31

Yeah, I did. It wasn't wasn't like playing in the California amateur at all. I was um I think the last time I won um in '78, I think, uh I won by 39 shots. And I was mad that I didn't get to 40.

Mike Gonzalez 25:53

Oh well, that was four straight Nevada uh amateur wins, and then uh and then uh uh during the end of those that run, you were you had won a couple of the California amateurs, which is probably a bit better competition, I guess.

Patty Sheehan 26:07

Much better, much better, yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 26:08

Yeah. Had a chance to play in the finals of the 1979 U.S. Women's Am at Memphis Country Club.

Patty Sheehan 26:16

Yeah, I uh I it Memphis Country Club was a beautiful place. Um, but I got smoked. Carolyn Hill just smoked me. I didn't play all that well, I was just super nervous, and I'd never really been in that type of um you know stature in a tournament, and I just didn't really know how to handle it. I was super nervous, so I didn't play well, and she smoked me.

Mike Gonzalez 26:45

But as you know, it's just an accumulation of these little nuggets of learning along the way, right? Yeah.

Patty Sheehan 26:50

It is, it really is. And more times you get there, the more comfortable you're gonna get. I'm not sure you ever get completely comfortable. I never did, but um, yeah, I I just kept saying, you know, you get you just keep keep getting there because eventually it's you know it'll happen. And I truly believe that inside, and I I've I held that um you know that thought in my head, you just keep getting there, keep keep knocking on the door, and eventually it'll happen. You'll win. And and um I you know obviously didn't have any idea how successful I was gonna be, but um that was that was a huge stepping stone for me to get to the finals in the women's amateur. And um you know, you know, I have the highest regards for Carolyn. She was so nice, she was so sweet, and and um so uh you know, we're good buddies. Um and I that was a great experience, and that was a that was a true stepping stone for me.

Mike Gonzalez 27:52

Yeah, well you mentioned the the timing of Title IX when it came along too. I I I really remember this and how it affected our university uh teams and so forth. You know, a lot of the players, as you know, uh the older players that we've talked to, they had no opportunities to play in high school or in college because there were no women's teams, and so they might have played on the boys' team in high school, might have played on the men's team in college, uh, maybe not. Uh they just didn't have that opportunity. A lot of them just went right uh from high school or you know, 17, 18 years old right onto the LPG tour.

Patty Sheehan 28:22

Yeah, that's right. That's right. I mean, I I uh I was kind of a late bloomer, so that's why I I had to go through those motions uh my late teens, early 20s, to really figure out um where I belonged and if I belonged. And um I would keep asking my pro Ed, I'd say, Eddie, am I ready yet? He's like, Nope, nope, you're not ready. So I just kept plugging away. And then um after I lost the the amateur and I uh was put on the Curtis Cup team, um, and that was a huge honor. Um my my partner was Lori Castillo from Hawaii, and the two of us were like two little bulldogs over at St. Pierre in uh Wales.

Bruce Devlin 29:10

Wales.

Patty Sheehan 29:11

Yeah, it was great fun.

Bruce Devlin 29:13

Uh you had a pretty good record there too. I I don't think you got beaten, did you? Yeah.

Patty Sheehan 29:18

Yeah. So I mean it and again, nobody really had heard about me. I mean, they knew about Lori because she won the uh I think she won uh well I forget what it is. Um anyway, she won something and she got on the team and and we were we were unbeatable. That was really fun. And she and she and I are these two little short things that you know were taking on the the twin towers of Maureen Middle and um um oh gosh, what's her name? The the other great player from over there at that time. Anyway, um, you know, we're these two little things, and we're up against these dog houses, and that was that was pretty fun.

Mike Gonzalez 30:03

Well, as Bruce mentioned, four and oh was Patty Sheehan opens up day one foursomes, and they win five and three, and then they go to the afternoon session for singles, and she prevails three and two. Second day foursomes in the morning, up three and two, and then finishes off her singles match five and four. So pretty comfortable, all those victories, huh?

Patty Sheehan 30:28

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, that's uh I'd never been, you know, across the pond before. I got to fly in a big jet, and I got to see a like a Broadway show over in London. I mean, it was it was quite the trip. I, you know, the my eyes were this is incredible.

Mike Gonzalez 30:49

Yeah, yeah. Just another little building block of experience, right?

Patty Sheehan 30:52

That right, yeah. I mean, it's it was it was great, great fun, and um uh great memories, um wonderful teammates, and you know, we're still in touch today.

Mike Gonzalez 31:06

That same year in 1980, you also won the uh intercollegiate golf championship for women, playing out of San Jose State at the time, right?

Patty Sheehan 31:14

Right. I had uh transferred from Nevada. I was spent three years at Nevada, and the last year, if I remember correctly, I was the only player from Nevada for women's golf. And I played on I played a lot with the men uh for practice, but um uh then I they said, you know, we we don't want to have a women's golf team anymore. Nobody seems to be interested. So um they said you can transfer anywhere you want and not lose a year of eligibility. So um I almost went to Tulsa where Carolyn Hill was was uh on the team. And then I realized, you know, I think I want to stay closer to home to Reno, uh, so I can get up and go skiing in the winter, and you know, just the the the trip back home is not too far. So I decided on San Jose State where uh Julie Ingster was going to school and some other really good players, and I thought, you know, that's gonna be a good team. Um, and I'd like to go there. So I asked, and they said, yeah, sure, we'd love to have you. So I I did. I went down to San Jose State for a year and um won the individual title. Um, it was the AIAW at the time, and which is now the NC2As. And um in New Mexico, so the university course there in New Mexico. Um and then uh on Sunday afternoon of that tournament, I turned in my LPGA application, went to the mailbox, threw it in there, and I said, I'm turning pro. And so uh a month later, almost to the day a month later, I went back there to the same golf course to qualify for the LPGA in the middle of summer uh of 1980, and I won that too, um, actually by more strokes than I won the college tournament. Wow. But um yeah, it was that was that was a great time in my life because everything fit together like pieces of the puzzle, you know, just like one thing after another, and it was building and building and building, and then you know, culminating and um in winning the AIEW there and getting out on tour.

Bruce Devlin 33:32

So did you get the uh go-ahead from Eddie at that point in time? Or do were you still deciding to do that by yourself, young lady?

Patty Sheehan 33:40

No, I got I got the go-ahead from you can put you can put your application in, and um it was funny because I I I remember playing um uh I don't know, a round of golf with Julie Inkster, I think at her home course, and and we were talking, and I said, uh, I said, dude, what am I gonna do? I'm I don't have eligibility, I can't play for college anymore. And I said, You think I you think I should turn pro? She's like, yeah, what else are you gonna do?

Bruce Devlin 34:14

Good answer. Come on, yeah, good.

Mike Gonzalez 34:17

Yeah, thank you for listening to another episode of For the Good of the Game. And please, wherever you listen to your podcast on Apple and Spotify, if you like what you hear, please subscribe, spread the word, and tell your friends until we tee it up again for the good of the game. So long, everybody.

Intro Music 34:39

Whack down the fairway. It went smack down the fairway, and it started to slice just smidge off line. It headed for two, but it bounced off nine. My caddy says as long as you're still in the state, you're okay.