They Have Thrown the Book at Him : Golf: Azinger, the defending champion, isn’t looking for more controversy at Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

PEBBLE BEACH —  Paul Azinger is an amiable, outgoing professional golfer. He doesn’t have temper tantrums like Tommy Bolt.

Yet, controversy seems to follow him.

Azinger is the defending champion of the $1.1-million AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am that begins today on the Monterey Peninsula.

Azinger laughed in Tuesday’s 10-player exhibition shootout at the Pebble Beach course when fellow pro Fuzzy Zoeller threw him a rule book.

Rules violations revealed by television coverage have given Azinger celebrity status he would like to avoid.

The most recent flap occurred at the Tournament of Champions in La Costa, where Azinger removed a leaf near his ball.

The ball rolled into a sand trap, and he blasted out.

It was brought to the attention of officials, presumably by a television viewer, that the ball moved after Azinger had removed a “loose impediment” near his ball, a rules violation.

It would have been only a one-stroke penalty if Azinger had replaced the ball instead of hitting it where it rolled, which called for a two-stroke penalty.

He was advised of the rules violation before he finished his round. After watching TV, he acknowledged that he made an error.

Azinger seemed relieved. Otherwise, he would have been disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard.

He was disqualified last year at the Doral Open after a television viewer belatedly called in to inform officials of a rules violation by Azinger.

Off camera, he also has been involved in controversy:

--After the United States beat the European team in the Ryder Cup matches last September, Azinger was quoted by a British publication as saying: “We thumped them Iraqis and now we’ve beaten the Europeans.”

Azinger insisted that he was misquoted. “I did say we whipped the Iraqis, but I never said anything about the Europeans. Somehow that was added on, and that’s not what I said.”

--He had a misunderstanding with Seve Ballesteros that had been lingering since the Ryder Cup. They reportedly settled their differences amiably last December in Jamaica.

--He also reportedly called television commentator Johnny Miller “the biggest moron in the TV booth” during the Ryder Cup matches.

Azinger jokingly said he actually called Miller “the biggest Mormon.”

--Last year, after playing Poppy Hills, then the new course in the tournament rotation, replacing Cypress Point, Azinger annoyed tournament organizers by saying: “The only good thing about Poppy is the 19th hole.”

Other pros had similar feelings. Azinger was the only one to publicly express them.

So, what flap is next for the man nicknamed “Zinger?” He is trying to keep a low profile here if events, or his own actions, don’t conspire against him.

Azinger didn’t win another tournament after his victory here last year. However, he had a rewarding season. He had 12 top-10 finishes and earned $685,603, ninth on the money list. Moreover, he won two singles matches from Jose-Maria Olazabal during the Ryder Cup competition.

Comedian Bill Murray, the star of the movie “Caddyshack,” played Pebble Beach for the first time Wednesday in a practice round.

His impression? “Hatred and self revulsion,” Murray said with a straight face.

He wouldn’t reveal his score, but asked if has a chance to make the pro-am cut, Murray said: “I was assured by everybody I spoke with that I should make a reservation on a plane for Saturday night.”

Golf Notes

Pebble Beach will be the site of the U.S. Open June 18-21. “June could be colder here than it is now,” said Tom Watson, who won the Open at Pebble Beach in 1982. The weather here has been sunny and mild, but there’s a possibility of rain Friday and Saturday. . . . Watson and Jack Nicklaus, who won the Open here in 1972, said that Cypress Point is missed. Poppy Hills replaced Cypress Point last year when Cypress didn’t comply to the PGA Tour’s new guidelines regarding minority members. “It’s like following John Wooden,” Nicklaus said of Poppy Hills replacing Cypress Point.