Sleep

...ba href=/sleep/a/b, play baseball, golf and hang out with my kids — not in that order." He doesn't mention his impending divorce, but golf has always been a way for him to take a mental vacation from stress.

He played 45 holes a day the week before spring training, and every day he can since camp opened.

He hated the sport growing up, thinking it was for "non-athletes," he says.

In the minors, Smoltz needed to keep his mind busy during the downtime between starts.

One of his first shots was a 5-iron from 165 yards, in the hole.

"Every day it's different," he says.

"Every day could be the day.

I like that part of it.

It's you against Mother Nature and the course.

It's a test of your choke value." Basically self-taught, Smoltz has a smooth swing that launches drives between 290 yards to 310 yards.

He always plays the "tips" — the longest yardage — which today is 7,154 yards (the Tom Watson-designed course is rated a tough 74.7 with a slope of 140).

He is a master in tricky situations, and nails a wood shot from a scrubby fairway bunker.

"My sport is so mechanical that when I play golf, I can't get too mechanical," Smoltz says.

"I can't worry about where my hands are and my swing is.

I can't translate that from baseball.

I literally just play golf and don't think about it." No one hangs up now Just like he is on the mound, he doesn't overpower, and he rarely misses.

He ends up with a 1-under-par 71 (five birdies, two bogeys, one double, 10 pars).

"Thank you, I'll be here al...

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