FORT WORTH, Texas — Michael Block wasn’t the only hoisting the Wanamaker Trophy on Sunday at Oak Hill Country Club, however the 46-year-old PGA educating skilled out of Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in Mission Viejo, California, received the hearts of golfing lovers around the nation with his inspiring efficiency at the 2023 PGA Championship. Block completed in a tie for fifteenth, beating out probably the most top-ranked golfers on the earth as he secured his spot in subsequent 12 months’s PGA Championship prior to incomes sponsor exemptions for each the Charles Schwab Challenge this week and the RBC Canadian Open in June.
Of path, Block’s inspiring end at the PGA Championship and abrupt alternate of vacation spot to Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth has made for a whirlwind 48 hours since his ultimate putt at Oak Hill. That features a sea of textual content messages from pals and different supporters Block stated he has nonetheless now not completed sorting via, despite the fact that some of the congratulatory messages Block stated he did get to was once one from NBA legend and six-time champion Michael Jordan.
“I mean, getting a text from Michael Jordan today, that’s — I’m a big Jordan guy my whole life,” Block instructed media participants after a convention spherical Tuesday at Colonial. “I was a little kid in Iowa saving 100 bucks for a pair of Jordans back in the day. Pretty darn cool, to say the least.”
Block did not proportion the textual content message word-for-word, however stated Jordan achieving out made for indubitably probably the most sudden textual content he won in wake of his feat at golfing’s 2d primary of the season.
“It was something in the way that what he saw is why he loves the game of golf so much,” Block stated of Jordan’s textual content.
Jordan is not the one retired skilled athlete Block has been in communique with both as he prepares to tee issues up at Hogan’s Alley later within the week. Block detailed that he holds a detailed friendship or even steadily golfs with retired MLB megastar Albert Pujols, who spent a substantial portion of his profession in Southern California taking part in for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and, in short, the Los Angeles Dodgers prior to retiring at age 42 after the 2022 MLB season.
Block stated the longevity of Pujols’ baseball profession was once a supply of inspiration for himself as Block continues to post low rounds at the golfing path smartly into his 40s.
“I went to almost all of the games when [Pujols] was a Dodger, when he was close to me, and would follow him around as a St. Louis Cardinal too,” Block stated. “To be around him and to see what he did at a similar age to me and to watch his professionalism and his willpower.”
For now, the grind continues for Block as he prepares for what is going to be his fourth get started in a certified tournament this season. Block performed in each The American Express and the Farmer’s Insurance Open prior to his upward thrust to stardom at the PGA Championship, however ignored the reduce in either one of the ones Southern California excursion stops. And in his downtime, there are many extra messages to move via so that you can empty his inbox.
“I really apologize to all my friends and fans and PGA members out there that have texted me,” Block stated with somewhat of a smile. “I’m sorry I haven’t gotten back to you. I literally scroll and scroll and scroll, and it’s never ending. I can’t even get to the bottom of any of my feeds to even see how many [texts] or who’s texting me. So it’s been crazy.”