Sheehan Sends Out All-Points Bulletin

The defending champion of the first women’s major golf tournament of the year got ready for this week’s Nabisco Dinah Shore by missing the cut at Phoenix.

Patty Sheehan is trying to find herself. Has anybody seen her lately?

Well, on Tuesday, Sheehan could be found playing a practice round at Mission Hills Country Club, where she quickly noticed there was something wrong with her swing.

So Sheehan spent some time working on her shoulder turn, shifting her weight off her right side, finishing her swing higher and positioning the ball farther back.

Presumably there is nothing wrong with the way she takes her clubs out of the bag. Sheehan paused for a breath after making her list.

“That should be enough,” she said.

It remains to be seen if it’s a good sign to be putting your swing together like a jigsaw puzzle just before you play a major. Sheehan knows how she feels about it.

“Not very comfortable,” she said.

Sheehan is No. 58 on the money list this year and hasn’t finished better than a tie for 18th--in the season-opening Tournament of Champions. Last week, she shot 72-76 at the Standard Register PING and missed the cut by one shot.

“You know, it’s tough,” Sheehan said.

It probably isn’t going to get any easier, beginning Thursday at Mission Hills, where the rough is higher than usual and the idea of keeping the ball in the fairway would seem to be a good one.

But first there’s one problem, namely that swing thing.

“I’m not hitting the ball well off the tee,” Sheehan said. “That will be the key. I’ve just got to keep it in play. The rough is up. . . . It’s thick, it’s miserable.”

When she shot 67-71 during the weekend last year and won by one shot over Annika Sorenstam, Kelly Robbins and Meg Mallon, Sheehan celebrated with a cartwheel on the 18th green.

That seems a long time ago, even for a Hall of Fame player with six major championships among her 35 victories.

“I haven’t done any cartwheels since,” Sheehan said.

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The Facts

* What: Nabisco Dinah Shore.

* Where: Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage.

* When: Thursday-Sunday.

* Prize money: $900,000 total purse, $135,000 to winner.

* Defending champion: Patty Sheehan.

* TV: Thursday and Friday, ESPN2, 2-4 p.m.; Saturday, 4:30-6 p.m., Channel 7; Sunday, 3-5 p.m., Channel 7.

* Players to watch: Laura Davies, Annika Sorenstam, Karrie Webb, Emilee Klein, Kelly Robbins, Dottie Pepper, Nancy Lopez, Michelle McGann, Liselotte Neumann, Betsy King, Beth Daniel, Donna Andrews.

* Tickets: (619) 324-4546.