Longtime Chronicle staff writer covered golf beat for 25 years
Pat Sullivan, who covered golf for The Chronicle for the better part of 25 years, died Tuesday in Nipomo (San Luis Obispo County), his brother said Sunday. Pat Sullivan was 78.
Sullivan recently had been diagnosed with lung cancer, according to Jim Sullivan.
Pat Sullivan worked at The Chronicle from 1977 until 2002, as both a copy editor and reporter. He covered golf for much of that time, including the 1998 U.S. Open at the Olympic Club and 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, where Tiger Woods won in a historic romp.
Sullivan grew up in the Mission District, playing at Harding Park and other municipal courses, and attended St. Ignatius High School and San Francisco State. He started his career at United Press International and worked at Rolling Stone Magazine for two years before joining The Chronicle.
“I know he loved covering golf, the local angle and the city tournament,” Jim Sullivan said. “And of course, he really appreciated going to Pebble Beach so often for the Crosby.”
Sullivan, a good-natured man quick to offer an encouraging word, also filled in on 49ers and Giants coverage, among other assignments in his time at The Chronicle. He took copious notes when covering a golf tournament, an especially valuable habit when several players were tussling for the lead.
“I was thinking about things I might say at his memorial service, and one is his kindness,” Jim Sullivan said. “The other is his sense of humor — he loved telling funny stories about the golf world, all the different sports or the people he interviewed.”
Pat Sullivan is survived by his wife, Bonnie, daughter Sheila, son Mike and grandchildren Lauren and James.