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Most people know Baseball Hall of Famer John Smoltz for his prowess on the mound, but the 59-year-old has also become quite the golfer.
Smoltz qualified for the US Senior Open in 2018 and hopes to do so again this year. He said his game is the best it’s ever been and credited his health for where it is today.
“The game is at its best. The goal is you always wish you could play tomorrow when the game is at its best, but that’s the beauty of golf. You know you have to have it when it counts,” Smoltz told Pakinomist Digital in a recent interview.
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John Smoltz watches his shot from the eighth tee during the first round of the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Orlando, Fla., on Jan. 29, 2026. (Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
“The game is at a point now at 59 where I’m confident in some of the things I can do because I’m physically more capable with two new hips and some procedures done. I’m at a point where I know if I can continue to get a little bit better around the green, I’m going to play the kind of golf I want to play.”
Smoltz will compete in this year’s American Century Championship, which will take place 10-12. July at Edgewood Golf Course in Lake Tahoe. The Atlanta Braves legend has come close to winning, finishing second last year to NHL great Joe Pavelski, but has never won.
The American Century Championship uses a modified Stableford scoring system rather than traditional stroke play, meaning that instead of counting total strokes, players are instead awarded points based on their score for each hole.
An albatross is worth 10 points, a hole-in-one is worth eight points, an eagle is worth six points, a birdie is worth three points, a par is worth one point, a bogey is worth nothing and anything two over par or worse is worth minus two points.
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Hall of Famer John Smoltz will be inducted during the Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at the Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown, NY on July 27, 2025. (Gregory Fisher/Imagn Images)
Smoltz said he hasn’t started nearly fast enough in the first round, forcing him to play catch-up.
“I get off to a slow start. Every tournament I put together the second and third rounds with too big a hole. I make a ton of pars. It’s so frustrating to say that I make a ton of pars. That would normally be good, but it’s not in this tournament. I think at one point I made 29 pars in a row in a tournament and it was like my tournament. putter off because you only get one point for a par,” Smoltz said.
Smoltz attributed his slower starts to a conservative mindset and emphasized the importance of making birdie putts.
“You get three times the value for a birdie. So, like last year, I think I made seven or eight birdies in the last round to get second. I couldn’t chase down Pavelski, but I’m like, where has that been? Where are those birdies in the first round?” Smoltz said.
“So I definitely need to get off to a better start. I’m a little too conservative in a first round of a three-round tournament, which always puts me in the mix but doesn’t give me the best fighting chance to maximize a round when I’m hitting the ball pretty well.”
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John Smoltz tees off at the Capital One MLB Open at Shadow Creek Golf Course in North Las Vegas, Nev., on Nov. 14, 2025. (Lucas Peltier/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
Smoltz was playing in the American Century Championship in 2000 when he underwent Tommy John surgery and missed the entire season and received permission from his late, legendary manager Bobby Cox to play.
“I had a sneak peek of it when I played. I had Tommy John surgery. I had the best manager in the world in Bobby Cox. He let me play because I was out all year and it was back then, it was the scrimmage game, when Michael Jordan and all those high-level athletes were playing the scrimmage game. I did okay. I hung my own,” Smoltz said.
The World Series champion called the event something you mark on your calendar and said it’s a great event.
“American Century is incredible. They do a great job putting on the event all these years. It’s a mark on your calendar and nothing-better-comes-on-the-road kind of event. But I think the biggest thing about the golf course and just the whole thing is that I get so excited to play and want to win so bad that I have to temper all that when I come.”
The tournament has raised more than $8 million for regional and national charities. American Century Investments donates 40% of its profits to the Stowers Institute for Medical Research and activates fundraising at the tournament to drive direct donations to Stowers each year.
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John Smoltz watches his tee shot on the second hole during the first round of the American Family Insurance Championship at University Ridge Golf Course in Madison, Wis., on June 11, 2021. (Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
The tournament will be broadcast on NBC and Peacock.
The eight-time All-Star spent 21 seasons in the big leagues, 20 of them with the Braves. He spent his final season with St. Louis Cardinals and the Boston Red Sox.
Smoltz has a career record of 213-155, a 3.33 ERA and 154 saves as he converted to a reliever for a few seasons after his Tommy John surgery.
