Skip to main content

John Smoltz guarantees that he will win the American Century Championship someday

John Smoltz is quite confident in his golf game ahead of July’s ACC.

Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions 2025 - Round Three
Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions 2025 - Round Three
Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images

Baseball fans know and love John Smoltz for his time with the Atlanta Braves and calling games in our present days for FOX. As a fan of the Houston Astros, a team perennially in the postseason, Smoltz has become a tradition in my household over the last decade in that sense.

What you may or may not know about Smoltz is that he might love golf more than baseball. He has quite the stick and has played just about every course on your dream list.

Smoltz has his own golf dreams though and one of them is to someday win the American Century Championship. He has finished in the top 5 a total of three times over the last five years, including a fourth place finish in 2024, and has flirted enough with the title that it makes sense for him to someday win it.

I was able to catch up with John a couple of weeks ago and pick his brain on how much he loves this beautiful game. One of the more fun parts for me was checking his answers against a Q&A that he did with Golf Digest back in 2009 regarding what he thought to be the most challenging course, and his answers in our current moments were awesome.

Erin Hills was absolutely gorgeous last week during the U.S. Women’s Open and looked to be every bit of the challenge that Smoltz described it to be both back in 2009 and a couple of weeks ago when he and I spoke. Given his skillset on the links, if he finds it challenging then it is not for the faint of heart.

The American Century Championship will be taking place July 11th through 13th and can be seen on both NBC and Peacock. If you want to attend the event in person at Lake Tahoe then here is standard ticket information.

Wagering on Smoltz to walk away with the title may seem bold, particularly with Steph Curry now officially committed to the field, but he seems to like that level of boldness. At the end of our conversation he guaranteed that he will one day be the oldest winner in the history of the event.

Now it is just a matter of when that becomes a reality.

See More:

More in Golf

Golf
U.S. Open 2026: Wyndham Clark may run away with this thingU.S. Open 2026: Wyndham Clark may run away with this thing
Golf

Wyndham Clark is out to quite the lead at the U.S. Open

By RJ Ochoa
Golf
Rory McIlroy in U.S. Open contention after first roundRory McIlroy in U.S. Open contention after first round
Golf

Rory McIlroy is well in contention after the first round of the U.S. Open

By RJ Ochoa
Golf
Deloitte is helping to make the rules of golf more accessible and fan-friendlyDeloitte is helping to make the rules of golf more accessible and fan-friendly
Golf

The rules of golf are well on display at the U.S. Open

By RJ Ochoa
Golf
Jordan Spieth is ready for the U.S. OpenJordan Spieth is ready for the U.S. Open
Golf

Jordan Spieth is as ready as he can be for the U.S. Open

By RJ Ochoa
Golf
Jason Day helps stories to visualize successJason Day helps stories to visualize success
Golf

Jason Day has a unique approach to “stories” during his rounds

By RJ Ochoa
Golf
T-Mobile made the U.S. Women’s Open even betterT-Mobile made the U.S. Women’s Open even better
Golf

The U.S. Women’s Open at Riviera was a huge success

By RJ Ochoa

Comments
Loading comments
Getting the conversation ready...