PGA Championship: After 'magical carpet ride' at Oak Hill, Michael Block ready to run it back at Valhalla
Michael Block said he hasn't been able to give a single lesson since last year's wild run at the PGA Championship
After a life-changing week at Oak Hill last summer, the Block Party is back and ready for another run.
Michael Block â the 47-year-old teaching pro who finished T15 at last yearâs PGA Championship and hit a wild hole-in-one in his final round â is gearing up for this yearâs major at Valhalla Golf Club in Kentucky.
âThat was a magical carpet ride for sure,â Block said Tuesday, reflecting on his 2023 outing. âI literally felt like that the entire week, to tell you the truth. It was just almost kind of a blur, surreal moment, exactly what you sitting at home would think itâs like.â
Block quickly became the fan favorite at last yearâs tournament at Oak Hill. He became the first PGA club pro to sit inside the top 10 on the leaderboard after 54 holes in decades after he made the cut for the first time at a major. And he hit an ace in his final round alongside playing partner Rory McIlroy. Block posted a final-round 71, and finished T15.
MICHAEL BLOCK DRILLS THE ACE đŻ
Nothing but the bottom of the cup on the 15th! pic.twitter.com/63vogSPoXgâ Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) May 21, 2023
"BLOCKIE! BLOCKIE! BLOCKIE!"
Michael Block's home club Arroyo Trabuco erupted after seeing his ace! pic.twitter.com/XYy9H9igwCâ PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 21, 2023
His finish earned him more than $288,000 â which was nearly four times more than heâs ever earned completing anywhere in his career. Thatâs an incredible payday for someone who used to charge $150 for an hour lesson.
âI couldnât believe that my game held up for four straight days at Oak Hill,â Block said. âThat golf course is so hard. Just a spectacular course. ⊠Sunday, I couldnât believe that the 47-year-old club proâs swing and putting stroke somehow held up during that time.â
Block: âI got sick of myself, I was so out thereâ
Now a year removed, Blockâs life is totally different.
He revealed this week that a suddenly busy schedule hasnât allowed him time to give a single golf lesson since his finish in New York. Heâs largely had to step away from the Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in Southern California where he had worked for years. His office door, usually open, is almost permanently closed because of the "onslaught of people," which he said is a real "bummer."
All of the attention heâs received since â Block even received a text from NBA icon Michael Jordan in the wake of his finish â really started to get to him.
âYeah, I got sick of myself, I was so out there,â Block told Golf.com this week. âI literally was sick of myself and seeing posts about me that I can only imagine people that werenât me how much they hated â like, I was so over it.â
Block will tee off alongside Luke Donald and Shaun Micheel in the first two rounds of the PGA Championship this week. While his outing last May was impressive, Block has largely struggled on the course since then.
Heâs missed the cut at both PGA Tour events heâs played in this year, and the PGA Championship last year was the only event in six starts that he made the cut. He fell just short of qualifying for last yearâs U.S. Open, too.
His run, he admitted, is likely nearing its end. He's not upset about that, either.
âI have no doubt that this will all simmer down,â Block told Golf.com. âUnless I do something stupid again here in the next couple years. ⊠I do realize, though, if nothing else big happens in golf, Iâll be back to normal. Iâll be back on the range giving lessons, Iâll be running a golf course and with my family a lot more than I had been. So itâs not a bad thing.â
But for now, Block isnât thinking too much about the future. He knows that, if heâs going to pull off a repeat of last year, he has to just enjoy himself this week.
âRight now Iâm just dialing in, trying to get all 14 clubs so I go out there and thereâs no stress, and then it comes down to golf,â Block said. âYou play as good as you can and try not to get frustrated when you hit a bad shot because thereâs going to be a bad shot, and just have a good time. Thatâs how I play at my best.â