Playing on a sponsor\u2019s exemption at the Dick\u2019s Open, Michael Block finished T-9 after a final-round push where he carded seven birdies in his first 17 holes.<\/p>\n
It was exactly what he had dreamed of doing, he told reporters at En-Joie Golf Club in Endicott, New York \u2014 about 125 miles from the site of his T-15 finish at the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club.<\/p>\n
While it may have been a dream week for Block \u2014 one where he made his PGA Tour Champions debut and played alongside his idol Darren Clarke during Saturday\u2019s second round \u2014 there was still some lingering frustration on how it came to an end.<\/p>\n
Block found trouble on the 18th hole when his wedge shot hit a tree and plugged into a nearby bunker.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll hell breaks loose, I make a triple bogey,\u201d said Block, who finished 13 under (66-70-67) and one shot above Clarke, but five shots out of a playoff.<\/p>\n
\u201cCost me a lot of points, a lot of money, a lot of everything, which is very frustrating,\u201d Block added. \u201cI\u2019m just here trying to make my way possibly onto this tour and that hurt a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
New York state of mind<\/p>\n
Block might have been frustrated to end with a \u20187′ on his card but his biggest takeaway from the round was that he can compete on this circuit. <\/p>\n
\u201cI can win here \u2014 my game is pretty good, and I look forward to being out for the next one,\u201d he said. \u201cHonestly, I\u2019m very fortunate to be playing the [Senior] U.S. Open next week in Columbus at Scioto and I can\u2019t wait to get after it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Block\u2019s first made cut at a PGA Championship came in his fifth attempt just three years ago \u2014 a moment that launched the career club professional into a whole new stratum.<\/p>\n
There must be something in the water in upstate New York, right? Or maybe it\u2019s just the gallery. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe fans are insane \u2014 the fans in New York have always been very supportive of me,\u201d Block told reporters Sunday. \u201cLove them to death. I wish I could play in New York every single week, they\u2019re just so cool. Gosh, the fans in New York are just such sports fanatics and I love them for that. It\u2019s been really cool to have them come out here and support me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Signs of respect<\/p>\n
In addition to gaining confidence through his strong performance on the course, Block noted over the week that he saw the way he was seen and treated by his peers change ever so slightly. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I walked through the putting green today and I had seven guys give me knuckles, it was really cool,\u201d he said. \u201cI didn\u2019t have that \u2014 I didn\u2019t have that early in the week, you know? So, my idols right now know me, which is really cool.\u201d<\/p>\n
One could say it doesn\u2019t get any better. <\/p>\n
But it did for Block on Sunday, when Clarke gave him a fist bump on the putting green. <\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the greatest guys in the world, huge fan of him,\u201d Block said, \u201cand the second I\u2019m walking on the putting green, he comes over to me and gives me knuckles. I\u2019m like, \u2018The week\u2019s good, the week is perfect.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Playing on a sponsor\u2019s exemption at the Dick\u2019s Open, Michael Block finished T-9 after a final-round push where…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":732058,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[427,99],"class_list":["post-732057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/732057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=732057"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/732057\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/732058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=732057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=732057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=732057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}