Michael Block was a hot topic Sunday on social media.
Now 50, Block was competing at the Staysure PGA Seniors Championship at Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeen, Scotland before withdrawing midway through the final round, which appeared as a disqualification on the event’s leaderboard.
Block, who shot to fame at the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill, was late to his tee time for the final round which he later explained on social media as “only a couple of seconds” because he was taking pictures with volunteers. He took ownership in the same Instagram post, saying, “first time in my career and completely my fault.”
“Yes, I was a couple of seconds late to my tee time today, got caught up taking pictures for volunteers. First time in my career and completely my fault,” he wrote on social media.
After the two-stroke penalty for being late, he shot an opening nine of 43. After a bogey on 12, a report by Monday Q suggested Block walked in without telling his playing partners and had reportedly been upset with how the course was set up.
When reached via text, Block told Golf Digest that the suggestions he was upset with the course were untrue and that he withdrew due to injury. He also explained why he was listed as a disqualification.
“I withdrew mid-round,” said Block, who was playing in the event on a sponsor invite. “Thanked my playing partners, their caddies, the spectators and the walking scorer. Handed the scorecard I was keeping to the other player. Asked the scorekeeper to call an official for a ride in.
“A gentleman with a European Tour jacket arrives a couple of minutes later and I tell him that I’m withdrawing. Once I arrive to the clubhouse, I walked into the championship office to thank them for the week but no one was there but thought nothing of it, thinking that I had withdrawn correctly, but I guess the gentleman that gave me the ride was not an official so I was DQ’d, rather than a WD.
“To hear these accusations that I just walked off the course and that I was upset about the course conditions is absurd.” Block said he had been nursing a niggling left wrist. He had carded rounds of 76-73-78 prior to the final day. “Tweaked my already weak left wrist on 10th hole hitting out of a bush,” Block added. “Went into the brush again a couple of holes later and didn’t want to injure it more. I was completely out of the tournament and I didn’t feel it was smart to keep going at that point.”
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
