FORT WORTH, Texas — Michael Block He wants to apologize to his friends.
“I’m sorry I didn’t get back to you,” said Block, who finished 15th at the PGA Championship last week and was given a no-show at this week’s Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth. “I wipe and wipe, and it never ends. I can’t even get under any of my food to see how many or who is seeing me. So it’s been crazy.”
But there was one message he received on Tuesday that said he would be back. It came from Michael Jordan.
Apparently the basketball Hall of Famer and avid golfer noticed Block wearing a pair of Jordan sneakers last week at Oak Hill Country Club.
“I’ve been a big Jordan fan my whole life. I was a little kid in Iowa saving 100 bucks for a pair of Jordans back in the day,” Block said. “Pretty darn cool, to say the least.”
And Jordan’s message?
“It was part of the way he saw it and that’s why he loves the game of golf,” Block said.
The 1-over finish to last week’s PGA Championship caught the attention of golf fans everywhere. Finishing tied for 15th, he qualified for next year’s PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club and was the best finish by a club professional since 1986. at No. 577.
“I’ve said a lot, but it’s just a dream,” Block said after practice. “I’m just cruising. I’m glad I didn’t get the reality going right now so I can play better golf. I think if I sit down and think really hard. , I’m not sure I can move the club on Thursday.”
Block’s ace on the 151-yard 15th hole was the first at the PGA Championship since 2020 and the first by a PGA club pro at the PGA Championship since 1996. The 7-iron he used is now in high demand.
On Monday, he told 1310 The Ticket in Dallas, he was awarded $30,000 for the group. He has received more since then.
“It’s crazy, right? The original answer was $50,000 and I was going to hand it in. Kind of childish, but I guess not,” Block said. “But I’ve been asking other people to maybe be booked into other PGA places, and things like that, things like that. So it’s up in the air. I, and I’ll go from there.”
Max Homa called Block, the head coach at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in Mission Viejo, California, “a legend in southern California,” has played against him in the past. Block played the front nine at Colonial on Tuesday and Beau Hossler, another golfer from southern California. When he stood at number 10, Jordan Spieth and Zach Johnson he was looking.
“It’s amazing to see someone who, if you go to the US Amateur or the US Mid-Am and see how good the players are, and how busy they are,” Homa said. “All my days I sit here and practice golf. That’s all I have to do, and he can still make me happy.”
Ryan Palmer he was practicing at the Vaquero Club in Westlake, Texas, and saw a Block-in-one hole. He was curious to see how Block’s game would handle the rigors of the big weekend games Justin Rose and Rory McIlroy.
“I think it’s one of those stories that the game of golf hasn’t had in a while,” Palmer said. “The game is in a great place, the PGA Tour, the guys that are playing every week, the guys that are winning, it’s stronger than ever, I think, but I think a lot of that has to do with what’s been going on in the golf world, the battle that’s been going on I think.” that you can say.
Block received his agent’s waiver on Sunday and left for the Dallas/Ft. Important Monday. He was at Colonial by mid-morning Tuesday for a workout. She brought the same outfit from last week in Rochester, New York, but that didn’t help with the hot weather in Texas.
“I don’t have any shorts with me,” Block said. “Then I’ll try to get some shorts here [so] as long as I’m outside practicing [Wednesday]I should wear shorts.”
The light wasn’t too much for Block. After his press conference on Tuesday, he spent about an hour doing some radio work. He calls baseball Hall of Famer Albert Pujols one of his best friends. He plays with them regularly Patrick Kantlay. He was contacted Thursday by a friend Min Woo Lee.
This is his first time playing the colonials, Ben Hogan’s home school.
“The courses fit my eye, a lot of cutting edge,” Block said. “You must be very straight. And the green is perfect. I have a nice ryegrass round the green. To be honest, it fits me a lot better than last week.”
The most encouraging part of the past week has not been the recognition and appreciation at all.
“I think my golf game is perfect,” Block said, his voice cracking. “Yeah, my game can be with these guys.”