We’ve had John Smoltz on The Loop podcast before, but only over Zoom. Earlier this month, we got a chance to meet him in person, which is a whole different ball game, no pun intended.
It’s in person where you get to see just how much passion, appreciation and love Smoltz has for golf, which is hardly surprising given he treated his actual profession, baseball, the same way. Smoltz met up with us at Liberty National, site of the Liberty Cup, a tournament for the Veterans Golf Association which is set to air on Golf Channel on the Fourth of July.
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Smoltz, who competed in the U.S. Senior Open back in 2018, will give qualifying another go in June at the Bear’s Club in Jupiter, and he says he feels like he’s playing the best golf of his life right now. But tournament golf remains a difficult challenge. Smoltz’s No. 1 issue with it? The pace.
“I just don’t like standing around,” said Smoltz, who had just zipped around Trump National Bedminster the day before for 54 holes in six hours a day prior to speaking with us.
“I found a gap and kept rolling. I have a problem. But when I’m playing at that speed, I’m kind of tough to beat. When I have to wait and wait, that’s always been a problem.”
Smoltz, who is the commissioner of The Pro Tour, a tour built exclusively for former athletes, says the No. 1 rule is no rounds over four hours and 40 minutes.
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“Selfishly, I wish golf had a shot clock. I think the game would be better, viewership would increase,” he said. “Golf is just played too slow. And I get it, they’re playing for a lot, they are the best in the world, but it’s absolutely too slow.”
If he had his wish, golf would implement a shot clock, much like the MLB implemented a pitch clock despite some pushback, which he belives saved the sport.
“It saved baseball. Baseball was dead,” Smoltz said. “It’s just a matter of [can the golfers] play faster? Yes. But they have been allowed to play this way, and that’s why they aren’t breaking any rules. I played in eight events on the [PGA Tour Champions], and I was like Oh my goodness.”
Smoltz had some Aimpoint takes, too, as well as some thoughts on the current epidemic in the MLB. To hear our full conversation with the former World Series champ, please have a listen below, and like and subscribe to The Loop wherever you get your podcasts:
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