Celebrity Autographs And Celebrity Addresses

Pebble Beach -- The gray hooded sweatshirt was nowhere to be seen. But when the hottest pro football coach in America needed protection from the intermittent rain Friday at Poppy Hills, he donned a blue sweatshirt with "Super Bowl XXXIX'' on the front.

It wasn't a good luck charm, Bill Belichick said. "I was just trying to stay warm.''

In two rounds in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, he has helped partner Larry Mize by 11 strokes. They're not among the leaders in the pro-am competition -- 11 strokes back at 134 -- but the coach of the New England Patriots has played fairly well, considering he hadn't picked up a club since July.

When he sank a 12-foot birdie putt on No. 18, his ninth hole of the day, one impressed fan said, "Sixteen handicap? My foot.''

"That was a tough putt, a big breaking putt,'' said his caddie, Dan Thornton of Salinas. "Even when the greens here are in good shape, they're challenging, and they're tougher in the rain. Plus, there are a lot of optical illusions on this course.''

Maybe that explains why Belichick spent so much time in the traps on Friday. "He's definitely had his share of sand play, there's no question," said Mize with a smile. "His ball seems to find the sand. But he's made a birdie each day. For not playing much golf in the last six months, as we know he hasn't, he's done well.''

Since taking that ice-water shower with his father on the sideline of the Super Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla., Belichick has taken part in the Patriots' victory parade in Boston on Tuesday and appeared on "The Tonight Show'' with Jay Leno, cracking a joke at the expense of mouthy Eagles receiver Freddie Mitchell. "I heard he had something for (Patriots safety) Rodney Harrison," he said. "Maybe it was the two dropped passes."

He was invited to the AT&T by his friend, Pebble Beach Co. CEO Bill Perocchi, who followed his round and observed, "You can tell he's used to pressure from the way he putts.''

Belichick was a lot harder in describing his scrambling round. "There were a couple of good shots and a lot of bad ones,'' he said. The birdie putt? "Every dog has its hole.''

He said he started playing golf when he was 3 or 4 years old with his dad, Steve, a longtime college football coach. The Patriots' coach has passed on the love of golf to his own kids. "My youngest, Brian, is 13,'' he said. "Hopefully, I can still beat him -- I don't know. It's getting closer every year.''

There weren't many Patriots fans on hand at Poppy Hills, but the most conspicuous was Sandy Hartley, who with her husband, Ken, moved from Cohasset, Mass., to San Luis Obispo last summer. Wearing a Patriots cap, T-shirt and jacket, she said, "He's my idol. I love defense, and that's what his teams play.''

Halfway through his round, he huddled briefly with old friend Dick Tomey, now the head coach at San Jose State. Later, Tomey tried to pinpoint the qualities that have helped Belichick guide three Super Bowl winners in four years.

"He's not trying to be anything but a great coach,'' he said. "He's consistent in who he is. Players mirror their coach, and his teams are as unselfish as he is. They don't buy into the hype because he doesn't buy into the hype.''

After finishing his round and spending 45 minutes signing autographs, Belichick said he will see the tape of the Super Bowl for the first time next week when he gets back to work. He scoffed at "dynasty'' discussions. "Next year we'll start at the bottom,'' he said.

As for golf, this tournament may be his one crack at it for a while. "I won't be doing a lot of golfing in Boston," he said. "We're under about a foot of snow.''