Golf teacher causes a stir at PGA Championship 2023

American golf coach Michael Block suddenly became famous thanks to his impressive achievements at the major hosted by the Professional Golfers Association of America in New York last weekend.

No golf instructor has made the cut at the PGA Championship since 1986. This year, Block is participating for the fifth time, and he booked his flight home early because he thought he would only last two rounds. But by the end of Round 2, Block had even par with a cut-off score of +5, and the number of spectators cheering him on had increased significantly.

Michael Block tees off on the first hole of the second round of the PGA Championship. Photo: PGA of America — Michael Block tees off on the first hole of the second round of the PGA Championship. Photo: *PGA of America*

In the penultimate round, Block continued to shoot 70 strokes, thereby finishing T8, but the tournament score was still even par and six strokes away from the top of the leaderboard. There were a total of nine players within that gap, including Block. At that time, experts and American media thought that Block could create a "miracle".

In the final round, Block played in the same group as Rory McIlroy, starting from hole 1. When he stepped onto the green, he was applauded by the on-field audience no less than an A-list star on the PGA Tour.

Field audience applauds Block — The field audience applauded Block.

After 14 holes, Block recorded two bogeys and the rest were pars, bringing his score down to +2. But on hole 15, he unexpectedly scored a hole-in-one with a 7-iron, causing the crowd to explode.

Michael Block scores hole-in-one — Michael Block scored a hole-in-one.

After an ace that missed the green, Block scored bogey-par on the next two holes. On hole 18, he again made the audience excited with a spectacular par-keeping performance - from the thick rough near the foot of the slope, he hit the ball 2.1 meters from the hole and added a finishing putt.

With a par on the final hole, Block finished T15 with +1 on May 22.

Thanks to that achievement, Block received $288,000 and a ticket to compete in the 2024 PGA Championship, jumping 3,003 places to 577th in the world's professional men's golf rankings. On the PGA Tour, the sponsor invited him to participate in the Charles Schwab Challenge this week and the Canadian Open from June 8 to 11.

On May 23, Block revealed to the media that someone had offered him $50,000 to sell his 7-iron, which he used to score an ace at the recent PGA Championship, and that the organizers wanted to display it at their headquarters in Texas. Block has not yet decided on either of these matters.

According to Golf.com , the tournament was a day old but Block still had about 1,600 unread messages from the community congratulating him on his success.

The 2023 PGA Championship will be played on the par-70 East Course at Oak Hill Country Club with a prize fund of $17.7 million. The tournament will feature 156 players, most of whom are ranked in the world’s top 100, along with former or current champions of the three peer events – the Masters, the US Open and The Open – over the past five years.

However, as is tradition, the organizers also reserve spots for 20 PGAA-member golf instructors through national qualifying events. Block won this spot, for the fifth time. He teaches golf at Arroyo Trabuco, California, for $150 an hour.

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