John Smoltz

Was an all-star picture for the Atlanta Braves between 1988 and 2008. He finished his career with the Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals. He won a career 213 wins with 155 loses and had a career era of 3.33. He played on 8 All-Star teams (1989, '92, '93, '96, '2002, '03, '05 & '07). Smoltz was part of a celebrated trio of starting pitchers, along with Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine, who propelled Atlanta to perennial pennant contention in the 1990s, highlighted by a championship in the 1995 World Series. He won the National League (NL) Cy Young Award in 1996 after posting a record of 24-8, equaling the most victories by an NL pitcher since 1972. Though predominantly known as a starter, Smoltz was converted to a reliever in 2001 after his recovery from Tommy John surgery and spent four years as the Braves closer before returning to a starting role. In 2002, he set the NL record with 55 saves and became only the second pitcher in history (joining Dennis Eckersley) to record both a 20-win season and a 50-save season. He is the only pitcher in major league history to record both 200 wins and 150 saves. Smoltz was well known for raising his game in the postseason, he had a 15-4 record with a 2.67 era in playoff and World Series games.
Since retiring as a player in 2009, he has served as a color commentator and analyst on television. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015, his first year of eligibility.
Smoltz never played golf growing up. It wasn't until the Tigers drafted him in 1985 that he started playing golf when he joined their Class-A team in Lakeland, Fla. The game provided relief from the mental and mechanical rigors of pitching. When he went to the Braves he really became an avid golfer, often playing with fellow Atlanta Braves pitchers Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine. When Smoltz grabbed headlines with a career-low 70 in a 1992 charity event with Tom Glavine, Steve Avery, Lee Trevino and Mark Calcavecchia, he began squawking about playing the senior tour someday. When he first started working on Fox baseball coverage, he told host Joe Buck, I'm going to make it. I don't know when, but you're going to call a U.S. Senior Open [with me playing]. "Lo and behold, when I knew I would be in it, just the shock of getting in, I started yelling, "I made it!" I have not stopped pinching myself since." So with his Fox connections, don't be surprise when he isn't playing to hear him doing some commentary.
Smoltz is a good friend of Tiger Woods; the two have played a lot of golf together. Woods has stated that Smoltz is the best golfer outside of the PGA Tour that he has observed. Smoltz played once in a Web.Com Tour event, missing the cut at the 2011 South Georgia Classic.
Smoltz got to the U.S. Senior Open by shooting a 3-under-par 69 at Planterra Ridge. He had it to 5-under through 12 holes before bogeys on 13 and 16. Then he had to wait almost 8 hours for the playoff. When the playoff started there were three players for just one spot. Both him and Brian Ferris made birdie on the first hole to move on. They both made double bogeys on the second hole and then won on the third hole despite making a double bogey. He was lucky because Ferris found the water on his tee shot and then three-putted from 20 feet giving Smoltz the spot at The Broadmoor.
According to Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press, soon after he won the playoff his phone became very busy with congratulations from the likes of Tiger Woods, Fred Couples, Mark O'Meara and Lee Janzen. Smoltz who plays to about a plus-2 handicap and has eight holes-in-one, including one on a 334-yard par-four. He already has practice rounds lined up at the Senior Open with Janzen and Billy Andrade.
Smoltz said he expects to be nervous. He hopes to shoot a pair of 75s but doesn't expect to make the cut because he believes in reasonable goals. "It's not like I'm sitting here saying I'm going to grow a head of hair again when I know I can't," he said. "But within reality, I really feel like I can accomplish things when I put my brain to it and I put my mind to it." There's also one more goal Smoltz has. "I know this. I going to have the time of my life," he said. "No one handed me this. No sponsor's exemption. This is something I can feel good about."