Michael Block completes fairytale week at Oak Hill - highlighted by incredible hole-in-one

Teaching professional was paired with Rory McIlroy for the final round of the PGA Championship, and secured his place at next year's tournament with a top 15 finish

Michael Block celebrates his hole-in-one on the 15th tee with Rory McIlroy during the final round of the 2023 PGA Championship. AFP

Brooks Koepka may have left Oak Hill Country Club as the PGA Championship winner on Sunday but it was a teaching professional qualifier who stole the show at the season's second major.

Michael Block was one of 20 club pros in the starting field but the 46-year-old American played like he belonged with the elite and was a fan favourite throughout the week in Rochester, New York.

The feel-good story began when Block made the weekend after successive rounds of 70. Paired with Justin Rose on Saturday, he admitted he was so nervous playing with the former US Open champion that he could not even make eye contact with him for the first few holes.

Then, upon learning he would be playing the final round with four-time major champion Rory McIlroy, Block simply turned away from the camera in disbelief.

Yet, if he portrayed a player out of his element, that's not what his golf showed during a remarkable final round, highlighted by his tee shot at the par-three 15th, which soared through the air and slammed into the hole without even touching the green.

The hole-in-one produced the loudest roar of the week at Oak Hill and Block was presented with the flag from the green during his press conference.

"I blew the hole out. Rory [McIlroy] was like, 'we need to recut that thing'. I walked up there, and half the hole, the hole back was just blown out," Block said. "I still just feel like I'm on a cloud nine right now."

Block wasn't done delivering the drama. Needing to make par on his final hole to secure a spot in the field at Valhalla next year, he missed the green with his approach but scrambled for a remarkable up and down from nearly 100 feet.

After he earned a top-15 finish to qualify for next year's PGA Championship at Valhalla, Block could barely believe what was happening.

"I'm living a dream. I'm making sure that I enjoy this moment," he said after finishing one-over for the tournament on a week when only 11 players broke par.

"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."

Down-to-earth and personable, Block teaches golf at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in Mission Viejo and played last week with his personal mantra, "WHY NOT?" imprinted on his golf balls.

Adoring galleries latched on to Block all week and tried to will him to the most unlikeliest of victories, much like John Daly's stunning triumph at the tournament in 1991.

"I'm like the new John Daly, but I don't have a mullet, and I'm not quite as big as him yet," said Block, who missed the cut in his six previous major starts.

"I'm just a club professional, right? I work. I have fun. I have a couple boys that I love to play golf with. I have a great wife. I have great friends. I live the normal life."

Block's fairytale week got even better after the tournament when he was offered a sponsor's exemption to play in this week's Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas.

But before he makes his way there he has one stop to make, and it is the same place where he started his week.

"So I was at the Pittsburgh Pub on Sunday night. Not one single person knew me," Block said. "I'm going to go there in about an hour, and it's going to be on. We're going to have a crazy good time tonight, and I look forward to it.

"My life's changed, but my life's only changed in the better."