Tiger Woods tabbed a former MLB star as the best non-golfer to play golf after spending numerous rounds with him during the early 2000s, when both were at the top of their respective sports

Tiger Woods is arguably the greatest golfer of all time, and he revealed who he believed was the best golfer outside the sport.

While there have been many athletes who play at a leisurely pace and have shown remarkable skill, such as Stephen Curry and Austin Reaves, there is a former MLB star whom Woods believes is the best of them, having faced him at the peak of his powers.

Former St. Louis Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright revealed that Woods told him the best non-golfer he had ever played against was also the pitcher's teammate at the time. The admission comes before rumors swirled about Woods' potential return to the links after a very turbulent year.

When asked who would win among himself, John Smoltz, and A. J. Pierzynski, Wainwright admitted that had Smoltz been in his prime, he would have been nigh-unbeatable. Now that the two are retired, the former Cardinals ace claimed the gap between them is closing, prompting Wainwright to share a story about just how vast it was in the past.

In turn, Wainwright revealed a comment Woods made regarding Smoltz's ability on the links. "Tiger Woods called him the best amateur golfer in the world," the former star said during an appearance on the We Need a Fourth show. "When Smoltz was in his prime and Tiger was in his prime, like early 2000s. I played with those two guys in 2003 spring training, which is a great story."

Wainwright then shared that he often played golf with Smoltz and had just happened to be invited to a round with Woods and Smoltz. The pitcher initially tried to let Bobby Cox, his manager at the time, know he was willing to stay behind rather than play golf with arguably the greatest golfer of all time.

In response, Cox asked Wainwright, "You kidding me? You don't want to go play golf with Tiger Woods?" Wainwright added, "He's like, 'Son, if you don't play golf with John Smoltz and Tiger Woods, I'm sending you back to Miami."

After taking a moment to regather his thoughts, Wainwright concluded with a conversation he had with Woods.

"But during that round that year, Tiger Woods told me, he goes, 'I think Smoltz is probably the best amateur golfer in the world," he continued. "He was on this crazy run where he shot nothing but 66, 65, 64, 66; every time we played, it was crazy."

Along with having a friendly rivalry on the golf course, both Smoltz and Woods met on the diamond. During the same period, the star pitcher was undergoing rehab and reached out to Woods, who said he had always wanted to face Smoltz, widely regarded as one of the best pitchers of all time.

But I just happened to have a rehab sim game, and there was no one in the stadium. And I said, ‘Hey Tiger, you’re in luck, if you want to face me no one is going to be there, the team is on the road, I’ll be pitching a couple of innings, you can come and take an at-bat or two.'” Smoltz said, according to Golf.com. “And he goes, ‘That’d be great.'

“We set it up, you know, and he goes, ‘No. 1 rule … give me everything you have. Don’t hold back.'” Smoltz shared that he was concerned for Woods because he did not want to hurt the star's thumb, which could hamper his ability to golf, and despite Woods' insistence, Smoltz dialed it back.

“At the end of the at-bats, I gave him fastballs that he could hit," Smoltz said. "And when he found that out, he got really mad. But he declared himself 1-4 with a walk. So I let him roll with it.

“That would have been probably after 2000, when I was making a transition back to maybe starting. He got in full uniform, we got the picture. It was a blast, you know.”