Michael Block may not be one of the top players in the world, but he is undoubtedly one of the faces of the PGA Championship. The PGA professional from Mission Viejo, California, burst onto the scene two years ago and has never looked back.
In the 2023 edition, held at Oak Hill Country Club in New Jersey, Block experienced the best moment of his professional golf career by finishing tied for 15th. He also had the opportunity to play with Rory McIlroy in the final round, a day in which he made an ace on the 15th hole.
Two years later, Block came close to emulating at least one of those feats when he nearly made an ace on the 227-yard, par-3 17th hole at Quail Hollow. The 48-year-old went for the pin with an iron shot and nearly sent the ball straight in, but it ended up seven feet short of the hole.
Block eventually made birdie on the hole. Unfortunately, it was only his second birdie of the day, which also included two bogeys and two double bogeys. His score of 4-over 75 puts him in a tie for 112th place and he will have to shoot low on Friday if he wants to make the cut.
Two years ago, Michael Block shocked the golf world by shooting three consecutive 70s on the very difficult Oak Hill course to reach a tie for 8th place after 54 holes. His final round was a 71, which dropped him to T15 and prevented him from becoming the lowest PGA pro in the history of this event.
According to Fansided, that honor is shared by Tommy Aycock and Lonnie Nielsen, who finished T11 in 1974 and 1986, respectively. Block was left with the second-best finish in history and the best in the last 30 years.
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To give you an idea of the magnitude of that result, only two other PGA pros have finished in the top 20 at the PGA Championship: Jay Overton (T17, 1988) and Bob Boyd (T19, 1990).
Block’s performance had an extraordinary impact for him. By finishing in the top 15, he qualified directly for the 2024 edition of the event and received special invitations to play in three PGA Tour events that season.
He also took home from Oak Hill the Crystal Bowl at the Low PGA Pro and the largest paycheck of his career, in the amount of $288,333.33.
Block has never come close to such a result before or since in his career. In fact, his performance at the 2023 PGA Championship is the only cut he has made in the eight major championships he has played in.
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