Tom Brady and Bill Belichick impressed the pros in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Golf pro James Driscoll, a Massachusetts native who was paired with Belichick at the pro-am, told the Boston Herald that both the New England Patriots quarterback and head coach would be better at golf if they weren’t so focused on football. Driscoll even said Brady looks like a pro at times.
“If he played more, he could be really phenomenal,” Driscoll said of the quarterback. “He’ll have a couple stretches of holes that just look like he could be a pro. But because he doesn’t play much, he’ll hit some squirrelly shots. He can definitely hit some loose shots.
“But as far as looking like a golfer over the ball, you know how some guys just look natural over the ball? He looks good over the ball. He looks like he’s going to hit a good shot. He’s got a really good setup, good grip, and he’s a big dude. I didn’t realize how tall he was. So when he connects, it goes. He can send it. He’s long.”
Brady’s an 8 handicap, while Belichick is a 14. Brady and Ricky Barnes finished the Pebble Beach Pro-Am at -13 — one stroke better than Belichick and Driscoll.
“(Belichick’s) game is pretty good,” Driscoll said. “His grip and his setup, he’s got one of the best grips I’ve ever seen for like a 14-16 handicap. Usually guys at that level have gnarly looking grips, but his grip is just a textbook Ben Hogan grip. And his short game is really good. He just doesn’t play enough. That’s the bottom line. He doesn’t play as much as he’d like, and that’s what keeps him from getting any lower of a handicap.”
Brady and Belichick won’t have more time to spend on the course until they’ve retired from football. Patriots fans are likely hoping that’s still a few years away.
