Michael Block has had a very, very busy few days.
The PGA club pro, fresh off his miraculous run at the PGA Championship last week, is now suddenly preparing for this week’s Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas, after earning entry on a sponsor’s exemption. He can barely keep up with all of the messages coming in on his phone.
“I literally scroll and scroll and scroll, and it’s never ending,” he said Tuesday at Colonial Country Club. “I can’t even get to the bottom of my feeds to even see how many or who’s seeing me. So it’s been crazy.”
However there were a few texts — and even one wild $30,000 offer for the 7-iron that he hit a hole-in-one with on Sunday at Oak Hill — that got Block’s attention.
The biggest came from former Chicago Bulls star and NBA icon Michael Jordan.
“I’m a big Jordan guy my whole life,” he said. “I was a little kid in Iowa saving $100 for a pair of Jordans back in the day. Pretty darn cool, to say the least … [The text] was something in the way that what he saw is why he loves the game of golf so much.”
Block, of course, was the low PGA professional at last week’s major championship in New York. He finished the week at 1-over, which was good for T15th and earned him an automatic bid in next year’s tournament.
His story is incredible. The teaching pro at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in Mission Viejo, Calif., normally teaches hour lessons every day for $150 each. After struggling to play competitively for years, Block was in contention almost the entire week. He then hit a slam-dunk hole-in-one on the 15th on Sunday — which sent both fans at the course and fans at his home club across the country into a frenzy.
“I’m living the dream,” an emotional Block said on CBS on Sunday. “I’m making sure that I enjoy this moment. I’ve learned that after my 46 years of life that it’s not going to get better than this. There’s no way. No chance in hell. So I’m going to enjoy this, and thank you.”
Unfortunately, the dream run will have to end sometime. They always do.
Block knows that’s coming, too. But at least for now, he’s just going to enjoy it for as long as he can — starting on Thursday afternoon with Min Woo Lee and Pierceson Coody.
“I don’t really know what the future is going to hold whatsoever,” Block said. “I’m not trying to guess what’s going to happen. I’m just going to keep doing what I’ve been doing … Whatever comes of it comes of it. I’ll enjoy it one way or the other. I’ve got a great life both ways. So it’s good all the way.”