Getting hit in the head might be the jolt John Smoltz needs to win this week at Edgewood Tahoe.
Year in and year out, Smoltz has been one of the top contenders in the America Century Championship celebrity golf tournament, but he has never won at Edgewood.
But about three weeks ago, he was drilled in the forehead by an errant golf shot.
Smoltz, who played Major League Baseball for 21 seasons and is now a TV announcer for MLB, said it was the scariest trauma he has endured.
“I’ve never been hit, played a million rounds. I got hit right above the eye, 100 miles an hour. Had to go to the hospital,” Smoltz said Thursday at Edgewood. “I think what it did, it knocked out my brain of doubt. So maybe I have no more doubt. But I am very fortunate to be here. Honestly, I have been playing good ever since I got hit in the head three weeks ago with a golf ball.”
He’s also fortunate the MLB All-Star game is next week, instead of the week before the celebrity golf tournament, as it usually is.
“Typically I fly in after the All-Star Game and try to put everything together. So I’ve been here this week, and it’s been enjoyable,” he said.
Joe Pavelski, who played for the San Jose Sharks and Dallas Stars, said he is retiring from the NHL.
Pavelski, who playing for the eighth time at Edgewood, had some advice for Matthew Tkachuk, who won the Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers last month and is making his debut in the ACC.
Pavelski never played on an NHL championship team, although he got close a few times with the Sharks and then the Stars.
“Never got to fully experience it that way. But they (the Panthers) were a good team. They deserved it probably. We would have liked to see them in the finals and have that,” Pavelski said. “But him coming here the first time, it’s exciting. First time, tenth time, I don’t think it really matters, that first tee happens and those trees are staring at you. There’s a few nerves out there.
“So you enjoy it. You get through it. You want to feel it as an athlete, go up, try to hit a shot and just really enjoy it.”
Some of the celebrities weighed in on the Charles Barkley bet.
Barkley, the NBA TV analyst and media personality, has odds of whether or not he can finish in the top 75 player in the field.
Previous tournament winner Mardy Fish thinks Barkley can finish in the top 75.
“I said he was going to do it last year. I think he’s going to do it this year,” Fish said. “I saw him on the range grinding. Hit like three shots but then he went under the tent. That was him grinding. It’s hot out there for Charles.
“We’ll see. He knows the course. We know that. He’s seen it all. He’s seen every hole, every nook and cranny of every hole.”
Joe Theismann said Barkley should be close to the top 75.
“I mean, it could go either way. You know he’s a friend of mine, that’s why I’m saying these things. And I love him to death,” Theismann said. “So, it’s a struggle out here. I don’t care who you are. John Carlson and I, plays for the Caps, I flew out with John — and we were talking about it. This is his first tournament. He’s a solid player. But this is a different environment, with the fans, with the cameras on, with the competition.
“And Charles is the kind of guy who is going to grind, going to keep on going. I think that number is probably a pretty fair number. Could be within one or two of the number either way.”
John Smoltz also said Barkley will be close to 75th.
“I know Charles, that is his major goal is to prove to people, for all the things he’s gone through in his game, left-handed, one-handed, you name it. He gets the greatest perseverance award, and he embodies this tournament,” Smoltz said. “That’s the thing about it. Like, Charles comes out here and has a great time, but I guarantee you, he’s got 74, 75 written down because I think 75 and a half is the number, right?
“He’s going to be right around that number, and I’m telling you, I think this is the year he does it.”
Pavelski also think Barkley will be in the top 75.
“Last year it was a buzz around him that he was going to beat it,” Pavelski said. “His swing was starting to come around a little bit last year, started to look real again. And so him having another year and having that eye on that number, I think he gets it done.”
Withdrawal: Vinny Del Negro, who won the ACC in 2021, withdrew from this year’s tournament.
First Tee
7:54 a.m., Don Cheadle, Michael Pena, Kyle Lowry; 8:03 a.m., Dwight Freeney, Charles Woodson, Patrick Peterson; 8:12 a.m., Matthew Tkachuk, Joe Pavelski, T.J. Oshio; 8:21, Davante Adams, Jerry Rice, Larry Fitzgerald. 8:30 a.m., Dell Curry, Seth Curry, Ray Allen; 8:39, Blake Griffin, Baker Mayfield, Vince Carter; 8:48, Rob McElhenney, Chase Utley, Joe Mauer; 8:57 a.m., Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols, Gary Sheffield; 9:06 a.m., Jake Owen, Mardy Fish, Adam Thielen; 9:15, John Smoltz, Annika Sorenstam, Jack Wagner; 9:24, Tony Romo, Mark Mulder, Derek Lowe; 9:33, AJ Hawk, Aaron Rodgers, Miles Teller; 9:42, Travis Kelce, Jason Kelce, The Miz; 9:51, Trevor Lawrence, John Elway, Josh Allen; 10 a.m., Charles Barkley, DeMarcus Ware, Larry the Cable Guy.
Tenth Tee
7:58 a.m., Jay Bilas, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Mike Vrabel; 8:07 a.m., Roger Clemens, Derek Carr, Kevin Millar; 8:16, Tim Brown, Marcus Allen, Jerome Bettis; 8:25, Jay DeMarcus, Bobby Flay, Bret Baier; 8:34, Chris Harrison, Dylan Dreyer, John Carlson; 8:43, Jim McMahon, Doug Pederson, Steve Young; 8:52, Kyle Rudolph, Harrison Smith, Kathryn Tappen; 9:01 a.m., Kyle Juszczyk, Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco; 9:10, Shane Victorino, Jayson Werth, John O’Hurley, Hally Leadbetter; 9:28, Austin Reaves, Chandler Parsons, Taylor Twellman; 9:37, Rob Riggle, Mike Golic, Nate Bargatze; 9:46, Joe Theismann, Andrew Whitworth, Brian Urlacher; 9:55, Robbie Gould, Carson Daly, Colin Jost; 10:04 a.m., Alfonso Ribeiro, Brian Baumgartner, Ray Romano.
