Club professional Michael Block relishing life-changing week at Oak Hill

Mon, 22 May, 2023 - 10:19

By Phil Casey, PA Golf Correspondent, Rochester

Club professional Michael Block has a sneaking suspicion his life has changed forever thanks to his sensational performance in the US PGA Championship.

Block enjoyed a barely believable week at Oak Hill, making the cut in a major for the first time, playing with Justin Rose in the third round and then firing a hole-in-one on Sunday while playing with four-time major winner Rory McIlroy.

The 46-year-old’s display captured the imagination of the spectators and his tie for 15th place secured a place in next year’s US PGA at Valhalla, followed soon after by invites for this week’s Charles Schwab Challenge on the PGA Tour and June’s Canadian Open.

PGA professional Michael Block with a slam dunk ACE at the 15th! 🎯

Doing it whilst playing with @McIlroyRory on a Sunday at a Major.. 🤩#PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/eLfvonU8lX

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) May 21, 2023

“This week’s been absolutely a dream,” Block said. “I didn’t know it was going to happen, but I knew if I just played my darned game that I could do this.

“I always knew it. I had this intuition that it was going to happen. I always saw myself coming down the stretch with Tiger Woods. I was like, I’m going to do it, even if I’m 45 or whatever it is, I’m going to come down the stretch at an event with Tiger.

“It just happened to be that I was in the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill, and I had Rory McIlroy in my group.

“I wasn’t coming down the stretch to win, but at the same time, Sunday at a major with the crowd here at Rochester was unreal.

“My life’s changed, but my life’s only changed for the better. I’ve got my family. I’ve got my friends. I’ve got the people that really love me and care about me here. It’s an epic experience.”

Rory McIlroy celebrates with Michael Block after Block’s hole-in-one during the final round of the US PGA Championship. Photo: Abbie Parr/AP.

Asked why he had proved so popular at Oak Hill, Block added: “I’m like the new John Daly, but I don’t have a mullet, and I’m not quite as big as him yet.

“I’m just a club professional, right? I work. I have fun. I have a couple boys that I love to play golf with. I have a great wife. I have great friends. I live the normal life.

“I love being at home. I love sitting in my backyard. My best friend in the world is my dog. I can’t wait to see him.

“But, yeah, it’s been a surreal experience and I had this weird kind of sensation that life is going to be not quite the same moving forward, but only in a good way, which is cool.

“I want to get more phone calls. I want to get more exemptions. I want people to start calling me and saying, ‘we want you in our event because it makes it better’. That’s great to me.”