While Brooks Koepka won the U.S. Professional Golf Association (PGA) Championship, which wrapped up today, there’s one player who’s gotten a lot more attention than he deserves. He’s Michael Block, a lesson pro who finished tied for 15th. For a $150-per-hour lesson among tour pros who make millions to tens of millions of dollars a year, he surprised people by doing well.
In the latest men’s golf world rankings, 메이저놀이터 released today, Block jumped a whopping 3003 spots to No. 577. He was ranked 3580 last week, before the PGA Championship.
Block, who also appeared on CNN’s morning program earlier in the day, was asked if it was like the golf movie “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” to which he replied, “Exactly. It’s exactly the same in that I’m the lesson pro,” he said. “Teen Cup” is a movie about a lesson pro who works at a rural golf course and tries to win the U.S. Open. The movie starred Kevin Costner and was one of the most successful golf-themed movies of all time.
“I’m a small-town golf course lesson pro and I’m playing Justin Rose in the third round and Rory McIlroy in the fourth round. It was a dream come true.” Block, who was invited to the PGA Tour’s Charles Schwab Challenge, which begins on Saturday thanks to his tie for 15th in the PGA Championship, said he canceled all of his scheduled lessons this week. “I’m sure my clients will be very understanding,” he said, adding, “I think my wife is going to ask me to raise my rates.”
Block is the head professional at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in Mission Viejo, California, USA. The PGA Championship allocates 20 of the 156 spots to club professionals in the United States. That’s how Block got to the PGA Championship.
No one expected him to do well. In fact, no one even knew he was playing. But Block turned heads when he shot back-to-back even-par 70s to make the cut in a tie for 10th place. After a third round of even-par to move into a tie for eighth, Block was paired with superstar Rory McIlroy in the final round of the day, and he made a hole-in-one with a 7-iron on the 151-yard 15th (par-3) hole right in front of McIlroy. “He had to tell me (the hole-in-one) five times,” Block said. To have him tell me that I made a hole-in-one is pretty cool,” he said. Block finished the PGA Championship in a tie for 15th place with a final total of 1-over-par 281.
GOLF/ – Michael Block, left, and PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka. USA Today Yonhap News
An emotional Block, who received an even louder ovation than McIlroy after parring the 18th hole, said, “I didn’t cry when I had my kids, and the only two times I’ve cried in my life were over golf. “I love my family, I love my job, I love everything, but golf is my life,” he said, emphasizing that “my wife has never seen me cry until this week.
The tie for 15th is the best finish by a club professional in PGA Championship history. Jay Overton (USA)’s tie for 17th in 1988 was the only other top-20 finish by a club professional in the last 35 years. Since 2000, Steve Schneider’s best finish was a tie for 40th in 2005.
“It’s been a surreal experience, and I have this weird feeling that my life will never be the same, but in a good way, and that’s cool,” said Block, who lived up to the “Why Not” motto emblazoned on his ball.
