An Orange County golf pro may not have won the PGA Championship Sunday, but he captured the hearts of golf fans with a stirring weekend run at the major.
Michael Block, part of the instructional staff at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in Mission Viejo, finished in a tie for 15th on the Oak Hill Country Club course in Rochester, N.Y., but had been in the Top 10 at the end of play Saturday. That feat that hadn’t been achieved by a golf pro in more than 30 years.
Oh, and Block, who was part of the field at the 2023 Farmers Insurance Open in La Jolla, made a hole-in-one on the 15th Sunday.
“I’m living the dream,” Block told CBS. “I’m making sure that I enjoy this moment. I’ve learned that after my 46 years of life that it’s not going to get better than this. There’s no way.”
Block now has made the cut five times while competing in 25 PGA events dating back 16 years. The last time, according to Yahoo Sports, was in 2015 and he finished far out of contention. He ended play at 1-over Sunday, good enough to qualify for the PGA Championship in 2024.
Brooks Koepka won the title at 9-under, two strokes ahead of Scottie Scheffler and Viktor Hovland.
San Diegans weren’t a factor:
- San Diego State alum Xander Schauffele was just behind Block, tied for 18th at 2-over.
- Phil Mickelson finished far off the pace at 10-over, following his second-place finish at the Master’s last month. He had tied with Koepka at Augusta.
- SDSU alum J.J. Spaun failed to make the cut, as did Rickie Fowler, out of Murrieta.
Mickelson and Koepka made headlines last year when they departed the PGA Tour for the newly launched LIV Golf. Though they cannot play at PGA Tour events, they can compete at majors if they qualify.