Before May this year, Michael Block was an unheralded and largely unknown figure in golf. Six months later, he’s become a globetrotting icon of the professional game despite no top-tier victories of any note.
What gives? The answer is plenty.
The 47-year-old Californian pro is at the ISPS Handa Australian Open in Sydney this week as an invited guest of Golf Australia and the PGA Tour of Australasia after he made similar appearances across Europe and in the Middle East.
Each tournament invitation was sparked by his out-of-the-blue performance at the PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club in May when he shared 15th place at the major as one of the 20 PGA of America club professionals who earn their way into the field each year. Block captured the imagination of the golf world with his deft play, which included an almost cosmic hole-in-one during the final round while playing alongside Rory McIlroy.
While the ‘Block party’ tour has drawn criticism in some circles for excessively milking this particular 15 minutes of fame (and for taking the place of a would-be Australian Open qualifier), there’s also a sense of appreciation for how the amiable club pro is simply taking advantage of his own fine play.
The man himself is just soaking up the limelight – and it shows.
“It was an absolute no-brainer,” Block said at The Australian Golf Club this morning of his thought process when the opportunity to play in our national championship arose. “I’ve never been to Australia before – obviously I’ve never been to Sydney – and I’m so glad I came.
“I’ve been watching this event on TV for pretty much my entire life. I vividly remember watching this from Florida at a tournament last year… Never in my life did I think I was going to be here a year later.
“I’m a big fan of Aussie golf and I think I’m going to be an even bigger fan after coming here to The Australian and The Lakes.”
Being Block’s first time in Australia, he is intending to play tourist and has already taken in the Sydney Opera House (replete with a rainbow above it) while a ferry ride across the harbour to Taronga Zoo is firmly on his radar.
But he’s also here to compete, although Block is mindful his putting will have to be at its peak at The Australian, in particular, due to the length he gives up to the rest of the field off the tee.
“I’m not the bomber here,” he says. “It’s a big ‘park’. I need to ‘roll the rock’. I’ve been working hard this whole past week back in California on my putting stroke. If I can roll the rock, I can ‘hang’; if I’m not making any putts, I’m going to have a problem.”
The huge about-turn in the life and career of Michael Block has taken some adjustment. Block is warming to the cameras and increased media and fan attention, yet it certainly required a transition.
“I’ve gotten used to [being interviewed and the heightened attention],” he says, “but I haven’t gotten quite used to the pressure of having the golf world watching and seeing how I’m doing. Obviously, I have got a lot of fans and I’ve got some other people that don’t wish me the best, but it is what it is. I’m trying to learn how to not allow that to get in my head as I’m playing.
“It’s more pressure than I had for the first 46 years of my life, so I’m somewhat getting used to it.”
However, one can’t help but feel a tinge of jealousy at the circles in which Block now moves.
“The coolest part is just the people I’ve been able to be around and meet that I probably would never have previously,” Block said of the wild ride that has been his past six months. “To play with, but even just to have dinners with some really cool people, smart people.
“I’m not saying ‘no’ to really anything. I’m just kind of going with it, having fun with it and going everywhere. If they want me in Qatar for 24 hours, I fly 16 hours and… I think I was on the plane longer than I was actually on the ground there, but I got to hang out with Max Verstappen and Checo [Perez] and play golf with them – the three of us. I’ll travel the world to do that.
“I’m very lucky. I’m a huge fan of golf, I love playing golf, I love playing against the best players in the world and here we are.”
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