Michael Block went down swinging on Friday at Aronimink. Both on the course and on the mic.
Did you expect anything different?
Following a sneaky strong first-round even-par 70, the club pro from California appeared to be off and running again early on a chilly Friday morning in Pennsylvania. After four straight pars, Block birdied No. 5 to get into red figures, with the short par-4 sixth awaiting. BlockieMania, pt. 2, was imminent.
Not quite, actually. Block bogeyed the sixth, then the eighth and the 11th, to quickly fall down to two over. A double at 14 sunk him to plus-four, but there was a glimmer of hope late, when Block birdied the par-5 16th to get back to three over. Had he parred home, that may have been enough to get him to the weekend. But back-to-back bogeys to close dropped him to five over, effectively ending his week (as of now, 70 players are two over or better).
If you thought a five-over 75 would stop Block from speaking to the media, then you just don’t know Block. Not only did he stop, but he delivered one final, Hall-of-Fame quote when asked if he considered that this could be his final PGA Championship start.
“I have to be honest with you — there’s no way on God’s green earth this is my last one,” Block told SiriusXM’s Jason Sobel. “No chance. I will definitely qualify for one more, if not five more.”
They’ll never make us quit you, Blockie.
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This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
