Tiger Woods often leaves his fellow golfers in awe with his extraordinary skills. However, former St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright claimed that another athlete had managed to impress even the 15-time major champion. That man was former Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz. Speaking on the We Need a Fourth podcast, Wainwright revealed why.
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“Tiger Woods called him the best amateur golfer in the world,” Wainwright said. “When Smoltz was in his prime, and Tiger was in his prime, like early 2000s, I played with those two guys in 2003 spring training… During that round that year, Tiger Woods told me, he goes, ‘I think Smoltz is probably the best amateur golfer in the world.’ … He was on this crazy run where he shot nothing but 66, 65, 64, 66 every time we played. It was crazy.”
Wainwright’s claims are hardly surprising, considering Smoltz has earned praise from Woods previously as well. In a 2022 interview with Bleacher Report, Woods named Smoltz and former NFL quarterback Tony Romo as the best non-professional golfers he had played with among professional athletes.
He also recalled playing alongside Smoltz and fellow former Atlanta Braves pitchers Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux during the team’s dominant run in the 1990s.
Despite shooting impressive rounds of 62 and 63, Woods revealed he lost money in those matches. But the question is: how did Smoltz, a former MLB star, get so good at golf? The 2015 National Baseball Hall of Fame inductee is known to many as an elite amateur golfer, once carrying a handicap index of +1.5. On top of that, he qualified for the 2018 U.S. Senior Open and has competed in multiple PGA Tour Champions events.
Not to mention, Smoltz also attempted to earn a full tour card through qualifying school in 2023. He advanced to the 78-man Final Stage at TPC Scottsdale to vie for a full-time tour card. However, he finished near the bottom of the final leaderboard and unfortunately missed a card. Meanwhile, Smoltz’s success on the golf course can partly be attributed to the skills he developed during his MLB career.
In a 2022 interview with GOLF[dot]com, the former Atlanta Braves pitcher explained how the precision and concentration required on the mound translated to golf. He particularly enjoyed shots that demanded accuracy, comparing the challenge to “trying to hit the glove” while pitching. Smoltz also highlighted the importance of staying centred over the ball, drawing parallels between the mechanics of pitching and golf.
Regardless, Woods and Smoltz have also faced off against each other in a baseball game as well, one that left Woods “mad”.
In the early 2000s, the 15-time major champion got an opportunity to face Smoltz in a simulated baseball game at an empty stadium. Woods, dressed in a full Braves uniform, had one request for Smoltz: “Give me everything you have. Don’t hold back.” However, Smoltz was worried that a fastball could injure Woods’ thumb and jeopardise his golf career.
So, he threw pitches that the golfer could hit. That decision did not sit well with Woods, who became furious upon realising that Smoltz had gone easy on him. As the former pitcher recalled, “At the end of the at-bats, I gave him fastballs that he could hit. And when he found that out, he got really mad.” Woods later described his performance as going 1-for-4 with a walk.
That said, Woods and Smoltz share a history that goes well beyond the golf course. And had their career paths taken a different turn, the two sporting greats might even have found themselves competing against each other on the PGA Tour.