Club pro hero Michael Block posts opening-round 81 at Colonial

It’s been a whirlwind week for 46-year-old membership pro Michael Block.

Last Thursday, Block was constructing the muse of what turned his legendary PGA Championship run with an opening-round 70 at Oak Hill.

Rather a lot can occur in seven days.

You probably already know the story, however to recap: Block turned the most important story of the PGA Championship, apart from Brooks Koepka’s win. He was the one membership pro to make the lower, he earned weekend pairings with Justin Rose and Rory McIlroy, and have become a final-round hero with a Fifteenth-hole ace and a clutch up-and-down to get within the clubhouse at T15 — which implies a assured berth in subsequent week’s PGA Championship at Valhalla.

Golf followers are used to seeing unbelievable play on the course, however Block’s story resonated like few do. Viewers have been charmed by his relatable demeanor and humility. After the PGA, Block obtained an exemption into this week’s event area at Colonial, and the RBC Canadian Open in June. He obtained texts from individuals like Michael Jordan. He was signed by energy company WME Sports. His sleeve bore a brand new Raising Cane’s emblem for his Charles Schwab Challenge debut. Everyone, it appeared, needed to take part on this Block occasion. Whirlwind is an understatement.

But then got here the golf.

On Thursday at Colonial, Block struggled from the beginning, bogeying his three opening holes. He bounced again with a few birdies to get again to 2 over at the flip, however was in the end sunk by a again 9 that included three bogeys and three doubles. Block in the end signed for a ultimate rating of 81 — 11 over par, and final on the leaderboard by 4 pictures.

“It’s one of those days of golf,” Block mentioned after his spherical. “If you play golf, you recognize precisely what simply occurred. So I don’t really want to elucidate it an excessive amount of as a result of, if you’re a golfer, you’ve had the day I’ve had. You perceive the information of the place the lies aren’t good and the bushes are in your manner each time. Even your good pictures are unhealthy, your unhealthy pictures are worse, et cetera, et cetera.

“It is what it is. I’m going to live with it,” he continued. “I thought it was going to happen that third or fourth round last week at Oak Hill, and it never happened. It happened now, and I wasn’t surprised by it, to tell you the truth. The experience I had that last week was next level. So today, coming out here and not having my game at all and having a lot of bad luck or whatever you might call it, just call it golf. It is what it is. At the same time, I sat there, and I thought about it, and I said, I’m going to see my boys tomorrow night.”

Block’s journey to date has been fairly an emotional rollercoaster — and the expertise appeared to sink in a bit as he thought-about making an early exit from Colonial.

“I’m not disappointed. I’m going to go home tomorrow night. (Crying). I’m sorry,” he mentioned. “I’m looking forward to coming out tomorrow and playing a great round and giving it everything I have.”

And regardless of the place Block sits on the leaderboard, he’s nonetheless holding out hope that he can flip issues round on Friday.

“I’ve shot 58, and I’ve shot a 59 in my life, and since what I had today, I wouldn’t be surprised if I did it,” he mentioned. “So if I do, cool. If not, I’ll be seeing my children and my spouse tomorrow evening in Orange County, California.

“It’s all good one way or the other.”

For Michael Block, that couldn’t be extra true.

Golf.com Editor

As a four-year member of Columbia’s inaugural class of feminine varsity golfers, Jessica can out-birdie everybody on the masthead. She can out-hustle them within the workplace, too, the place she’s primarily chargeable for producing each print and on-line options, and overseeing main particular tasks, similar to GOLF’s inaugural Style Is­sue, which debuted in February 2018. Her origi­nal interview sequence, “A Round With,” debuted in November of 2015, and appeared in each within the journal and in video kind on GOLF.com.