PGA club professional Michael Block is making noise at the PGA Championship. The 46-year-old who teaches out of a club in Southern California shot back-to-back rounds of even-par 70 to outplay many of the big names in the field while easily making the cut.
PITTSFORD, N.Y. — Michael Block is supposed to work on Monday, just like nearly every other PGA club professional this time of year.
Besides, there’s still room to dream. 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. Earlier in his career, it may have sent Block into a free fall. He doesn’t do that anymore. 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. It forced him to cancel his scheduled flight back to California on Saturday morning.
His putter is fine. His nerves, too. The fear that he didn’t belong out here vanished a year ago at Southern Hills. 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.It was meant as a compliment. 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.
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