MISSION VIEJO, CA – Twenty-eight days ago, Michael Block was golf’s biggest rock star.
He was more necessary than his partner in the ultimate round of the PGA Championship that day, Rory McIlroy.
He was larger than the player who was going to win the third championship of the yr that day, Brooks Koepka.
Blok, 47, anonymous everyone a club pro from an unknown club positioned in a valley a couple of mile east of Interstate 5 in Mission Viejo, California was Bruce Springsteen playing at Madison Square Garden in a concert broadcast live worldwide who captivated the audience on the Oak Hill Country Club and parts unknown.
Block, the one one among 20 club pros to pass in any respect on this PGA, wasn’t just on his strategy to a tie for fifteenth major golf championship this yr.
A month later, Block is still processing what happened to him that week in Rochester, Recent York, how his life changed into a crazy ride he never dreamed of, a tornado swept through the town and carried him across the country to some land fantasy for per week.
It wasn’t until the morning after the last round that it really hit him.
![Michael Block of the United States takes his first shot on the third hole during the first round of the RBC Canadian Open at Oakdale Golf & Country Club on June 8, 2023 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo: Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-1496989647.jpg?w=1024)
“The craziest part was after I woke up Monday morning crying in my bed,” Block told The Post during a visit with him to his club, Arroyo Trabuco, this week. “That is when I spotted that week was really real, like, ‘Oh boy, this really happened.’ I woke up in my bed, cringing. My wife was with me and she or he was like, “Oh my God,” because she had never seen me cry before.
“I’m not an emotional guy, but I suddenly became very emotional last week. It definitely hit me on nerves I didn’t even know I had. The discharge was crazy.”
Twenty-eight days after that magical final round in Oak Hill, the ultimate round of the US Open might be held on the Los Angeles Country Club on Sunday, and Block returns to his day by day work as McIlroy, Koepka and lots of other pros compete for the 2023 US Open title.
Block missed entering the US Open field with two shots within the sectional qualifier. Are you able to imagine going mad at LACC with him on the pitch during a house game?
“It’s extremely disappointing that I’m not there because I feel like my game is admittedly good right away where I might be there,” Block said. “I’m not saying I could compete to complete fifteenth again, but I could do something like a cut and see what happens. I’ve played quite a bit at LACC and love the golf course. The US Open often goes pretty much, which is tough and fast, and the Bermuda grass I’m used to.
“So I’m disenchanted to not be there, but at the identical time I’m so exhausted I do not know if I’d have that many matches. I’m disenchanted but at the identical time just a little relieved that I even have just a few weeks to get back to normal.
Normal?
Block’s “normality” has modified.
“I’m attempting to get back to normal, but at the identical time, I’m sociable, so when someone wants to return up and talk over with me, I talk over with them, and the issue is all of them need to talk over with me,” he said. “So attempting to walk may be very difficult now. It’s hard to go anywhere now. That is crazy.”
Block’s feet barely touched the bottom, his life modified eternally after that magical week in Oak Hill, per week where he won $288,333 in prize money and way more.
Since that fateful final round, Block has played two PGA Tour tournaments to which he has been invited by sponsors (Colonial and Canadian Open), received hundreds of texts and emails, has been invited to tournaments in Europe and Australia, has been invited to ESPY tournaments and company deals were signed, which appeared almost day by day this week throughout the US Open.
He also found it almost not possible to maneuver around his own club without being stopped every 10 feet by a member who desires to be added to his lesson sheet this summer.
“I’ve hardly been in my office for greater than a few hours,” Block said. “It’s absolutely crazy what number of requests for lessons and every kind of requests I get on my email, text and Instagram. Many individuals want signed caps for charity events. The crazy part is all of the fan mail I got. I now have stacks in my office that I am unable to get to. I’ll reach out to each person, but it should take some time.
![Michael Block on the golf course during the second round of the 123rd US Open Championship.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-1258758007.jpg?w=1024)
“I’m so swamped with things that I am unable to even fathom where I’m after I’m attempting to return all the pieces. I have never given lessons for the reason that PGA.”
Block did, nevertheless, give me an impromptu 30-minute lesson on the Arroyo Trabuco during my visit, a session that would change my golfing life. He modified my grip and in only just a few swipes he had me squeeze the golf ball with a light-weight stroke as an alternative of “rubbing” it and producing a faint fade.
We’ll see if it sticks. Nevertheless, having those precious moments with one of the sought-after people in golf was a privilege.
During our session, Block even had me swing a few times with the seven-point iron he used for his hole-in-one at Oak Hill within the last round. Since Block was offered $50,000 for his well-worn 7-iron, I used to be very careful not to interrupt it on the hose after I took just a few lashes with it on the training ground.
Many crazy things happened to Block during and after his sudden fame within the PGA Championship.
First, he was offered roughly $300,000 by an adult subscription website called My.Club for his services as a golf skilled.
He was an invited guest on the US Open hosted by Discovery Land Company CEO Michael Meldman at his multimillion-dollar Beverly Hills mansion – where he rubbed elbows with Cindy Crawford, Dustin Johnson and his wife Paulina Gretzky, and Adam Scott.
The deepest thing that happened to Block? Probably the texts he received from Michael Jordan, whom he had never met.
![Michael Block raises his trophy for the fans after John Lindert presented it to the president of The PGA of America after the final round of the 2023 PGA Championship at the Oak Hill Country Club.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/GettyImages-1492142126.jpg?w=1024)
“Michael Jordan wrote me a message and I didn’t even see his original message at first,” Block said. “My Nike guy called me at Colonial and said, ‘Dude, did you see Jordan text you yesterday? I’m like, “What? You need to be kidding me, because I had hundreds of texts. It took me half an hour to seek out him.
Jordan’s first message to Block was that he would “at all times be an inspiration to him.” After Block missed the cut, Jordan sent him one other text saying that “you never know until you are trying”.
“They were really heartfelt lyrics,” said Block. “They didn’t say, ‘Hey, you are really great, MJ'”
Block had no idea how he achieved his folk hero status until he left for Texas per week after the PGA and checked into the Colonial Country Club. When the motive force of his substitute automotive got to security, rolled down the window, and saw who was sitting within the passenger seat, the guards began shouting, “Block down the party!”
![Golf](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/NYPICHPDPICT000012786566.jpg?w=1024)
“I’m like, ‘Oh my god, people know me in Texas,'” said Block. “Canada was the identical – Canadians were all about it. I do not know. Since I used to be in Rochester on the time, I believed it was the Rochester individuals who were so nice to me. Plenty of people told me that what I did in Oak Hill was inspiring, that I used to be a traditional guy who by some means made my dreams come true in front of everyone. And after I look back on it, I used to be.