Tiger Woods has set multiple records at Augusta National throughout his career. He has won the Masters five times and is tied for second most wins in the tournament, trailing only Jack Nicklaus, who has six. Woods is considered an expert on the Augusta National, having played it more than 25 times over his career. John Smoltz recently discussed how once the 82-time PGA Tour winner turned the renowned Masters Course into his backyard course.
John Smoltz was present on the Subpar Podcast, where he discussed golf, including how he was able to play with Tiger Woods at Augusta National. Smoltz emphasized Woods’ unstoppable on-course performance, which included not missing a single shot. The former pitcher even claimed that he spent a lot of time on the tees, but Woods made it appear as if Augusta was his backyard golf course.
According to an X post by the Subpar podcast, Smoltz explained,
“I got a chance to play Augusta with him right before the Masters, right where the cutoff point is, where you can’t play it anymore. Our manager gave me an opportunity during spring training to leave and jump on his bird that was playing and get up there and play golf, and he had me back. And every pin was a Sunday pin.”
The 58-year-old baseball legend then went on to add,
“Obviously, I did that for him, and he has to play with a member like anybody else. I got to see firsthand why that was like his backyard golf course, like why he was going to win if he stayed healthy, why he would have won that so many more times because of just, he never, it was boring... He never hit a ball above the hole. He never hit it out of position. And you know, here I am playing from the same tees thinking I could do this, man.”
Along with this, John Smoltz recounted a story about playing baseball with Tiger Woods.
Tiger Woods “got really mad” during his baseball game against John Smoltz
During his appearance on the Subpar podcast, John Smoltz mentioned that he once played baseball with Tiger Woods and pitched only the fastball that the golfer could hit. When Woods found out about this, he became enraged because he wanted to confront the actual Smoltz.
According to Golf.com, the baseball legend stated,
“We set it up, you know, and he goes, ‘No. 1 rule … give me everything you have. Don’t hold back….Well, he’s a great athlete, and he took his batting practice, and he got in there, and it would be like me trying to think that I could make the cut at the Masters this past year. No chance. 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.”
Smoltz even said that after the two faced off on the baseball field, they took a picture together.
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