How has life changed for Michael Block since the Southern California club professional burst into the national spotlight three months ago during the PGA Championship?
Immeasurably.
This is how Block, the head professional at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in Mission Viejo, summed up the immediate and ongoing aftermath of his memorable week at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, NY, which included a 15th-place finish and a highlight-reel hole-in-one in the final round that went viral on social media:
“It’s been crazy!” Block said of his whirlwind post-PGA Championship life during an interview last week. “Absolutely insane.”
In the span of one week in late May, Block went from celebrated Southern California PGA Professional to national cult hero, almost overnight. First, he endeared himself to golf fans at Oak Hill with his engaging behavior and then to the national TV audience during walk-and-talk interviews with ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt and CBS’ Jim Nantz during the second and third rounds.
But the climactic, almost magical, moment came during the final round in a pairing with tour superstar Rory McIlroy when Block squinted into the sun on the par-3 15th hole and swung his 7 iron, the ball starting on a good line toward the green before he lost sight of it in the afternoon sun.
Suddenly, the greenside gallery erupted in screams and thunderous applause.
“Went straight in the hole!” Rory said, laughing, after slapping Block’s hand and giving him a hug.
“No! … No way!” Block said incredulously.
Yes, it did. On the fly. Slam-dunk!
And the ovation lasted until Block arrived at the green and pulled his ball with the Arroyo Trabuco logo from the cup, showing it to the cheering crowd, many holding their cellphones and beers aloft.
“The fairytale story … gets better!” Nantz enthused on the CBS telecast.
And it got even better after Block’s sensational up-and-down from the deep rough on the 18th hole, rolling in a par putt that secured the 15th-place finish that earned an invitation to the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville.
For the 15th-place finish—best by a club pro since Lonnie Nielsen’s T11 at the 1986 PGA Championship—Block received the crystal bowl that goes to the low club professional in the event and a career-best $288,000 paycheck.
“I’m living a dream,” Block told reporters after the final round. “I’m making sure that I enjoy this moment. I’ve learned that after my 46 years of life, it’s not going to get better than this. There’s no way.”
Soon thereafter, he found out how wrong he was. Shortly after signing his scorecard and meeting the media, Block received sponsors’ exemptions to compete in PGA Tour events in Fort Worth (Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial) and Toronto (RBC Canadian Open).
Let us count the ways his life got better and continues to get better:
* Block did 30 TV interviews in the span of a week, including “Good Morning America” on ABC, the “Today” show on NBC and “CNN This Morning.”
* In the two weeks after the PGA, Block’s Instagram followers increased from 4,000 to 250,000. Today, the count is 265,000. Now, he says he is recognized everywhere he goes, including airports in other cities.
* Since the PGA, Block has signed several new endorsement contracts, including with Cisco, Michelob Ultra, Raising Canes and Corebridge Financial, to go along with his existing TaylorMade and Nike deals that likely will be sweetened when they expire.
* Block has also signed with the famed William Morris Agency, which is helping him schedule all of his events and negotiate his contracts. His agent is Davis Holman of William Morris Endeavor (WME).
* Though the PGA Tour hasn’t made an official announcement, Block will be playing in another tour event this fall and has been invited to compete in the Australian Open outside Sydney in late November-early December.
* His famous ace at the PGA Championship was one of four nominees as “Best Play” of the Year during the ESPY Awards in July. He took a limo to the event in Los Angeles with a few buddies and appeared on stage to introduce one segment of the telecast.
“I didn’t win, but it was an honor just to be nominated,” Block said, adding that it was cool to meet Mike Tyson and that he was asked to give a putting lesson to Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes in the Green Room.
* Block was invited to play in a charity tournament by renowned music producer and rap artist DJ Khaled and, of course, Khaled’s stacked team (including Block and former Masters champ Bubba Watson) won the event at Miami Beach Golf Club.
* Michelob Ultra Canada flew Block to Toronto to do a promotion for Michelob Ultra’s 90-calorie light beer, in which Block had 90 shots from 114 yards to try to make a hole-in-one at Glen Abbey Golf Club. His closest tee shot stopped two inches from the cup.
* The 7 iron that he used to ace No. 15, which “a collector in Texas offered me $50,000 for,” instead is headed to the PGA of America Hall of Fame.
* When he returned home from the PGA Championship, Mission Viejo Country Club in his city of residence gave him an honorary club membership. Cadillac also gave him an Escalade to drive for a year.
* He says he has received at least 10,000 emails and almost as many texts since the PGA Championship, and he is still in the process of answering all of them.
One of the texts, as widely reported, was from Michael Jordan. “Took me a day to find the text,” Block said, laughing. “We’re going to play golf this winter at his course, The Grove XXIII,” a private, invitation-only club that Jordan owns in Hobe Sound, Fla.
* Block says he will also be featured on the second season of Netflix’s “Full Swing” documentary series about the PGA Tour, with behind-the-scenes footage shot at his home and at Arroyo Trabuco.
* In addition, the PGA of America has invited seven of Block’s working colleagues at Arroyo Trabuco to attend the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla, with all expenses paid, so they can watch the most famous club pro in the United States—if not the world—compete in another major championship.
Interestingly, Block was invited to play a practice round at Valhalla last week, and all he did was shoot a 9-under 63, with seven birdies and one eagle, tying the course record set by Jose Maria Olazabal during the 2000 PGA Championship. Yes, with the cameras rolling.As Golf Digest reported, “The Year of Michael Block continues.”
In case you’re wondering, Block—the reigning PGA Professional National Player of the Year, as well as a nine-time Southern California PGA Player of the Year—is leading both points races in 2023 as he attempts to repeat both honors.
So much for the notion that things couldn’t get any better after the PGA Championship at Oak Hill.
“I’m living the dream, and I’m going to ride it as long as I can,” Block says now.