Michael Block’s Un-fore-gettable PGA Championship
The club pro stole the show with an iconic hole-in-one
The star of this year's Professional Golfer’s Association (PGA) Championship was not Brooks Koepka, the actual winner of one of the four majors, or any other big name star but a Club Professional by the name of Michael Block.
During his remarkable weekend, Block had the only hole-in-one of the tournament on the 15th hole during the fourth and final round on May 21. His reaction was one of pure shock, not even sure it was real, until the roar of the crowd and the number three ranked player in the world, Rory McIlroy, confirmed it for him.
At Oak Hill Country Club in Pittsford, New York, Block additionally made a name for himself as the Cinderella story of the weekend with his remarkable play and entertaining interviews. At his highest, the golfer was tied for second place during the second round and finished 15th, making him just the fifth Club Pro to ever finish in the top 20 at a major championship.
Block teed off on Sunday with McIlroy to what the announcers noted to be the largest roar of the crowd for anyone that day. He arrived at that tee time tied for eighth in the standings and had already made history by simply making the cut, but Block still had some surprises in store.
With his 15th place finish, Block qualified for the PGA Championship next year at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky and climbed more than 3,000 spots in the world golf rankings. He was also granted a sponsor exemption to play in the Charles Schwab Challenge in Texas the weekend of May 28.
Block had many interview moments throughout the weekend that were clipped on social media. His early press conferences captured his desire to continue to play well and his reaction to finding out Mcilroy would be his pairing for the final round of the tournament were both all over twitter. Block’s interview with CBS Reporter Amanda Balionis after the tournament had finished was the one talked about most. Block teared up while she interviewed him.
“I’m living a dream,” he said. “It’s not gonna get better than this.”
Throughout the weekend he played with golf balls with his mantra, “why not?” on them–a mantra Block clearly embraced, leading him to play some phenomenal golf, including arguably the best shot of the tournament with his Ace on the 15th. That shot was the ultimate culmination of a surprising performance for a player no one expected anything from coming into the weekend.