![]() He didn’t make it out of the second stage, a wave of relief washing over him when he headed back home to his young family. At the urging of his inner circle, he went to PGA Tour qualifying school in 2007. It’s a path Block considered taking - albeit reluctantly - earlier in his career. Yet it’s also telling of how teaching professionals are often regarded, as good players to be sure, just not quite good enough to regularly go up against the world’s best. “My (boss) even said, ‘That was you not being a club pro anymore,’” Block said. Playing a handful of groups ahead of a pairing that included Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, Block shot a 2-over 73 in the second round. The fear that he didn’t belong out here vanished a year ago at Southern Hills. While not the longest hitter - Block joked his 18-year-old son Dylan can blast it 70 yards by him - a driver switch at “oh dark 30” on Wednesday night has given Block enough length off the tee that he doesn’t have to hit mid-irons into the greens. So easily it’s not difficult for Block to let the mind wander. While Block believes he’s “pretty darn close” to the level of Cantlay and Hossler, he also knows he arrived in Western New York having never made the weekend in six tries at majors. It forced him to cancel his scheduled flight back to California on Saturday morning.īooking a flight home so early wasn’t so much about a lack of confidence but practicality. The instructor who tells his students the importance of “spiraling upward” shook off the ensuing double bogey to par each of his final four holes. He followed by shanking an 8-iron off the tee on the par-3 fifth, when only a fortunate bounce off a tree limb prevented the ball from sailing out of bounds and into someone’s backyard.Įarlier in his career, it may have sent Block into a free fall. He bogeyed the par-5 fourth despite having a lob wedge in his hand on his approach. He knew he had it going before his touch briefly vanished on his closing nine. I feel like at the end of the four days that that might be a pretty good result.”īlock’s nearly four-hour tour of the East Course included three birdies in his first five holes, a stretch that vaulted him into second behind first-round leader Bryson DeChambeau. “I feel like I could shoot even par out here every day. “I feel like I’ve got the game this week to compete, to tell you the truth,” Block said after becoming just the third club pro in the last 40 years to rank in the top 10 through 36 holes. Hitting balls with his “why not” personal mantra stamped on them and getting cheered at every turn by a gallery littered with some of the PGA’s 29,000 other teaching pros, Block fired a second straight even-par 70 and was five shots behind co-leaders Scottie Scheffler, Corey Conners and Viktor Hovland heading into the weekend. ![]() Room to have rounds like the one Block put together on Friday at the PGA Championship, when his name floated near the top of the leaderboard at Oak Hill surrounded by players far more famous. The appeal of chasing a PGA Tour card was heavily outweighed by a steady paycheck that lets him play and teach the game he loves without worrying about missing a mortgage payment.īesides, there’s still room to dream. The lure of being a touring professional vanished long ago. It’s typically followed by an early evening visit from teenage sons Dylan and Ethan, aspiring golfers who can already blow it way past their dad off the tee.īlock wouldn’t have it any other way. The 46-year-old’s daily routine at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in Southern California is a mixture of lessons and paperwork. Michael Block is supposed to work on Monday, just like nearly every other PGA club professional this time of year.
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