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"John Smoltz&amp;#39;s Nationwide Tour debut began in promising fashion. The ending, however, did little to justify the future Hall-of-Fame pitcher&amp;#39;s spot in the event.\nPlaying in the South Georgia Classic on a sponsor&amp;#39;s exemption, Smoltz, who carries a plus-2 handicap, started on the back nine and parred his first two holes before birdieing No. 12 to get into red figures. The rest? Well, it was ugly.\nFacebookPinterestsmoltz_blog_0429.jpg\nOver the final 15 holes, Smoltz didn&amp;#39;t record another birdie while racking up nine bogeys and two double bogeys. The final number, 84, looked more like the reading from a radar gun after one of his sliders towards the end of his baseball career.\nSmoltz actually made his first start as a &amp;quot;pro&amp;quot; at last year&amp;#39;s American Century Celebrity Championship at Lake Tahoe, where he finished T-2. He found out on Friday that playing against a field of touring pros is a little different as his score left him in last place by four shots at the time of this post.\nSmoltz&amp;#39;s appearance comes on the heels of NFL legend Jerry Rice&amp;#39;s latest failed attempt on the Nationwide Tour. Rice shot 81-82 to finish eight shots behind anyone else in the field at the Fresh Express Classic -- for which he is also a tournament host -- earlier this month. His two-day total left him an embarrassing 23 shots off the cut line. Rice has now played in three events on the PGA Tour&amp;#39;s developmental tour and broken 80 just once.\nBy all accounts, Smoltz is a more serious golfer than Rice. He plays frequently and works on his game in his backyard, which doubles as a complete practice facility.\nPerhaps this is just one bad day, but it raises some interesting questions. Should retired athletes be allowed to take spots away from golfers trying to make a living? Is the publicity gained for the Nationwide Tour by these appearances even worth it if they&amp;#39;re going to be met by such criticism?\nAgain, this was just Smoltz&amp;#39;s first attempt. But the more performances like this are turned in, the more these questions will be asked.\n__UPDATE:__Smoltz followed up a rough first round with an even worse performance. He shot a second-round 87 to miss the cut by a whopping 27 strokes and finish nine shots behind anyone else in the field.\n-- Alex Myers\nFollow on Twitter: [@AlexMyers3\n](http://www.twitter.com/AlexMyers3)\n(Photo: Jeff Zevelansky/Getty Images)\n"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.golfdigest.com/story/john-smoltzs-rough-nationwide-tour-debut>