{"id":915839,"date":"2026-10-04T13:14:19","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T13:14:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/915839\/"},"modified":"2026-10-04T13:14:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T13:14:19","slug":"chip-of-the-old-block-leads-with-aussie-close-behind-australian-golf-digest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/915839\/","title":{"rendered":"Chip of the old Block leads, with Aussie close behind \u2013 Australian Golf Digest"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Richard Green is only two shots behind leader Michael Block after the second round of the inaugural Jefferson Lehigh Valley Classic in Allentown, Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n<p>American Block needed only 30 shots on the back nine as he posted a bogey-free seven-under 63 to take a one-stroke lead on Saturday (Sunday AEDT).<\/p>\n<p>The 50-year-old PGA Tour \u200cChampions rookie is 11 under, one ahead of New Zealander Steven Alker and two in front of Australia\u2019s Green, the first-round co-leader.<\/p>\n<p>Green, who opened with a six-under 64, followed up with a three-under 67 that included five birdies and two bogeys.<\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791119657_289_.jpeg\" alt=\"American Michael Block holds a one-shot lead after the second round.\"\/>American Michael Block holds a one-shot lead after the second round. (<a href=\"https:\/\/photos.aap.com.au\/search\/20230526001803422077\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">AP PHOTO<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>Block, who continues to serve as the head golf professional at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in Mission Viejo, California, gained a \u200cfollowing with a tie for 15th place at the 2023 PGA Championship.<\/p>\n<p>He followed his first-round four-under 66 by opening with back-to-back birdies on Saturday, then parred the last seven holes on the front nine, before birdies on five of the first seven holes coming in.<\/p>\n<p>Block is highly appreciative of the welcome he has received on the Champions Tour.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Giving the people what they want \ud83d\udc4f  Michael Block chips in to sit 1 shot back @JeffLVClassic. https:\/\/t.co\/eM95Fo1ouW<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 PGA Tour Champions (@ChampionsTour) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ChampionsTour\/status\/2106436082481127619?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">October 3, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe support I have from the fellow Champions Tour players is amazing,\u201d Block said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m out here as a club pro, and being out here for my seventh event in my life, and they really support me, which is really cool. Trust me, it helps a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In contrast to Block, who is happy \u200bjust to be on the verge of qualifying for the Charles Schwab Cup playoffs, Alker has won three times in 2026, owns 13 PGA Tour Champions titles and ranks No.3 on the Schwab Cup money list.<\/p>\n<p>The 55-year-old has posted matching 65s and, \u200blike \u200bBlock, played bogey-free golf on Saturday. He shot 31 on \u200bthe inward half and played the par-3s in two under.<\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791119659_219_.jpeg\" alt=\"New Zealander Steven Alker is eyeing his fourth win of the season.\"\/>New Zealander Steven Alker is eyeing his fourth Champions Tour win of the year. (<a href=\"https:\/\/photos.aap.com.au\/search\/20220606001666936938\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">AP PHOTO<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>Alker is well aware \u200cthe gallery will be flocking to Block on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s got a great following and I think the crowds will be good tomorrow and want him to do well,\u201d Alker said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s a bit different, he likes to talk about things. It\u2019s fun. He\u2019s got game, I\u2019ve got to bring it tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>American Ryan Armour fired a 64 to \u200bmove into fourth at eight-under. Compatriot Tag \u2060Ridings (65), South Korea\u2019s Y.E. Yang (69) and Sweden\u2019s Robert Karlsson (69) share fifth at seven under. Yang and Karlsson joined \u200bGreen atop the leaderboard after the first round.<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 with AAP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Richard Green is only two shots behind leader Michael Block after the second round of the inaugural Jefferson&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":915840,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[64,63,755,405163,85,2614],"class_list":["post-915839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-golf","tag-overseas-sport","tag-sports","tag-united-states-of-america"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/915839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=915839"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/915839\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/915840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=915839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=915839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=915839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}